Bruins coach Julien waiting to reveal Game 1 lineup

PITTSBURGH -- When it comes to the Boston Bruins' Game 1 lineup, coach Claude Julien isn't going to reveal anything until game time Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS).

"There are some decisions that we are going to make tomorrow, going to be game-time," Julien said Friday, minutes after the Bruins arrived at their hotel here. "There are some decisions that are going to be made and that is the beauty of it that we have decisions we can make.

"I'm certainly not going to tip my hand here and tell you guys who is in and who is out because that is the advantage we have in the playoffs and we definitely want to take advantage of that."

In reality, it appears Julien only has one or two decisions to make on his blue line.

Andrew Ference (undisclosed injury) is rounding back into form -- he is now practicing with the full team -- and if he returns to the lineup, Julien will have to make some tough decisions.

When Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden were injured earlier in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins used their depth, and the three young defensemen they plugged into the lineup -- Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton -- shined in the pressure-packed moments.

None, however, was more effective than Krug, who has four goals in the five games in which he has appeared. Julien would be hard-pressed to take Krug's transition game and the impact he has on Boston's power play out of the lineup even if Ference is ready to go.

"[The young players] showed they can hold their own, that's for sure," Julien said. "In that last series (against teh NEw York Rangers), if it were not for them playing at that level we might not be standing here today. Everybody wondered how they would react, but those guys, all three of them, did a wonderful job.

"They were poised in those situations, but not only that, they produced for us. They didn't just fill in a spot, but they also helped us win some hockey games."