Bruce Boudreau won’t say which goalie will start for Ducks

The Ducks’ goalie who will start the second-round playoff series at Honda Center this week is known by Bruce Boudreau, but the coach is declining to reveal his identity.

Jonas Hiller was the primary regular-season starter for the Western Conference’s top-seeded team, 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 victorious first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.

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

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.�

Rest vs. reward

Clinching their series Sunday instead of battling through a taxing seventh game, as the Kings and San Jose Sharks did Wednesday night, was an appreciated break, most Ducks players said.

The time off is allowing centers Ryan Getzlaf (upper body) and Mathieu Perreault (lower body), forward Matt Beleskey (lower body) and defenseman Hampus Lindholm (neck) to recover from first-round injuries. Each expects to be ready to play Game 1.

But Boudreau said his team needs to be on guard for what his 2011 Washington Capitals suffered through. They sat and waited for Game 7 winner Tampa Bay, and proceeded to get swept.

“You call [home ice and rest] advantages, but the Game 7 high … [Tampa Bay] played like it was Game 7 in the first two games of the series and we played like they were the first two games, and we never caught up,� Boudreau said.

As far as their next opponent, the Ducks responded from a nine-round shootout loss to the Kings in their first meeting Dec. 3 to sweep the next four games, and they clinched the Pacific Division over San Jose on April 9 to finish 2-2-1 against the Sharks.

[email protected]

Twitter: @latimespugmire