Ducks’ Bruce Boudreau knows who’ll be Game 1 goalie

Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said he knows which goalie he’ll start when his team’s second-round playoff series begins either Friday or Saturday at Honda Center.

But he won’t reveal that person’s name yet.

The Ducks will play host to the winner of Wednesday night’s Kings-Sharks Game 7 in San Jose.

Jonas Hiller was the primary regular-season starter for Western Conference No. 1-seeded Anaheim, but his 6-9-3 record to end the campaign swayed Boudreau to start 20-win rookie Frederik Andersen in all six games of the first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.

Andersen was pulled from Game 4, returned to win Game 5, then was hooked again after allowing four goals on 12 shots in Game 6. As Hiller stopped all 12 shots he faced Sunday, the Ducks rallied to victory.

Boudreau said after the game that Andersen was a little sick before puck drop, but he opted to stick with him anyway.

Now? “That’s not tough, I think I’ve got it handled,” Boudreau said. “I don’t know if it’s the right decision. We’ll see.”

Boudreau said he won’t publicly name the starter because “sometimes, I just play the game.

“Make [the opponent] work harder to find out things. It may make a difference, it may not. [Whoever’s in goal], he’ll do a great job. I always have confidence in the goalies we put in.”

INJURY UPDATE: Ducks center Mathieu Perreault, who missed Anaheim’s first-round-clinching Game 6 overtime win in Dallas on Sunday with a lower-body injury, said he was happy to see the Kings win Game 6 to afford him more recovery time, adding he expects to be able to play in Game 1.

Perreault said he was slashed in the third period of a Game 5 fight against Dallas and woke up Saturday with pain that proved too painful to overcome.

Meanwhile, Ducks forward Matt Beleskey left the ice early at Tuesday’s practice after missing four games in the Dallas series with a lower body injury. Boudreau said that was a precautionary measure taken during a demanding practice.

DEPTH DEMANDS: The two-goal performance by rookie forward Devante Smith-Pelly in Game 6 has a trickle-down effect.

Boudreau said he spoke Tuesday to forward Kyle Palmieri, who played 71 regular-season games but has been a healthy scratch in the last two playoff games, along with forward Daniel Winnik, who played in 76 of the 82 regular-season games.

“Told ‘Palmy’ today, ‘Keep positive,’ there’s no reason other than numbers why he’s sitting out. … Devante has come in and is playing well,” Boudreau said.