For the first time in a long time, the Bruins’ regular season ended with questions around who the Bruins Game 1 starting goalie would be.

Those questions were answered Sunday, a day before the Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes drop the puck in Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series.

The answer: Linus Ullmark.

“He's gotten better as the year went on, so you could say that's part competition, part of getting comfortable being a Bruin,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.

“He's trended very well for us. You want to be playing your best hockey as the playoffs near and I think he would certainly say he is."

It’s a well-deserved honor for Ullmark.

Throughout the course of the regular season, we saw several swings where Ullmark would outplay rookie Jeremy Swayman, then momentum would swing in Swayman’s favor, outplaying the veteran.

Monday’s start will be Ullmark’s first career playoff appearance.

“I am excited,” Ullmark said. “Whenever the thought has come into my head, I’m excited about the opportunity to play for the Cup.”

Ullmark finished his regular season Saturday with a 5-0 shutout in Buffalo, his first of the season.

It’s been an impressive run for Ullmark, finishing the regular season with an outstanding month of April. The month saw him earn wins over playoff teams such as the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers.

In seven April starts, Ullmark finished the month with a 1.41 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage.

“Regular season doesn’t mean anything when you get into playoffs,” Ullmark said. “I’m focused on what’s to come now.”

If we don’t see Swayman at all in the series, that probably means things are going well for the Bruins.

If things quickly go south for Ullmark and the Bruins, Swayman is more than serviceable for the task at hand, despite recent struggles.

Across the ice from Ullmark, the goalie picture in Carolina is not as clear.

Vezina candidate Frederik Andersen—who skated Sunday—has already been ruled out for Game 1 as he continues to nurse a lower-body injury.

With Andersen out, that means either backup Antti Raanta or rookie Pytor Kochetkov gets the start.

Raanta struggled in April with a 2.68 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage. Kochetkov has just three games of NHL experience under his belt.

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