Bruins expect Marchand, Krejci to play Game 1 of Cup Final against Blues

BOSTON -- Brad Marchand and David Krejci are expected to be in the lineup for the Boston Bruins when they play the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS), but Marchand missed practice Sunday, when Krejci returned following an illness.

"He had a maintenance day today, so that's all," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Marchand. "He'll be ready to go tomorrow."
There was some concern about Marchand because the forward seemed to injure his left hand or wrist in the Bruins' intrasquad scrimmage Thursday. He returned to the scrimmage shortly after going to the bench while favoring his hand.
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Marchand, who leads the Bruins with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 17 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, said his hand is fine, and then made light of the situation.
"I've been trying to get out of practice every day this week," he said. "It's just been dragging out here, so we're excited for it to start tomorrow, and it should be fun."
Karson Kuhlman skated with center Patrice Bergeron and forward David Pastrnak on the top line in Marchand's place during practice.
Krejci was back in his usual spot at center between forwards Jake DeBrusk and David Backes for the first time since he was sent home with a fever before the scrimmage. The Bruins had off Friday, and Krejci missed practice Saturday.
Now he'll play catch-up on Boston's preparations for St. Louis.

"Obviously, I was a little sick. No one likes to be sick, right?" Krejci said. "But we did have Friday off. I wasn't able to skate yesterday. We made the decision with the doctors that it just would be better to give it one more day.
"You know, going to go over the videos with the coaches, we'll go through them, and it really shouldn't be any issue with that. Obviously, the game's tomorrow. I'll be 100 percent tomorrow, for sure."
Krejci is third on the Bruins with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 17 games in the postseason.
Bruins forward Chris Wagner, whose right arm is in a removable splint, won't be available to start the Cup Final but said he's not ruling himself out for a return before the best-of-7 series is over. Wagner, who has two goals in the playoffs, blocked a Justin Faulk shot in the third period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes and has not played or practiced since.
"It's been a little tough watching them get ready and not being on the ice. It's been really tough," Wagner said. "But you just want to stay supportive. We've gotten this far. It's not about me. It's about the team."
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