Bergeron late scratch for B’s

BRUINS NOTEBOOK

TORONTO — The Bruins were forced to go into last night’s pivotal Game 4 without their best allaround player. The team listed him as day-to-day with an upper body malady.

The playoffs being the playoffs, the team did not give any prior word that Patrice Bergeron would not be available for Game 4 until warmups began at 6:30 p.m. and he was not on the ice. Bergeron also met with the media yesterday morning to discuss his seventh consecutive selection as a Selke Award finalist.

Coach Bruce Cassidy claimed the B’s didn’t know for sure that Bergeron wouldn’t play until just before gametime.

“He had an upper body injury that we were managing and he wasn’t able to go. He’s classified as dayto-day and hopefully he’s better and ready to go (tomorrow),” said Cassidy.

There was one hint during Wednesday’s practice at Air Canada Centre that something was amiss, however. While Bergeron practiced with the team, Riley Nash took some of his shifts with Bergeron’s regular linemates Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

But after the practice, Cassidy downplayed Nash taking those extra shifts in practice, saying it was just a matter of giving the team’s most important player a break at this time of year.

When Bergeron met with the press yesterday morning he did sound quite hoarse, but it’s not known if an illness would have been enough to keep him out of the lineup. He did take a big hit up high from Tomas Plekanec in Game 3.

Whatever the case, Nash stepped in and played a key role in the B’s 3-1 victory in Game 4. He provided the screen for Torey Krug’s game-opening goal just 28 seconds in, then won a huge defensive zone draw late in the second period after he had iced the puck. Off the faceoff win, the B’s went right down the ice and Marchand scored the game-winner on a 2-on-1 on a pass from Pastrnak.

“I wasn’t tired at all. I had my legs right underneath,” joked Nash. “That was one that you just try to battle it out and you definitely don’t expect the outcome that we got out of that. The play before is one I’d like to have back. It was a rolling puck and I tried to send Marchie on a tip and chase where we could get a chance. But it’s the playoffs and you have to bear down and just get the job done. I was more or less just focusing on not getting scored on and it turned out all right.”

When Bergeron went out of the lineup with a broken foot, Nash filled in for him in the same spot and the B’s were able to go 9-2-2.

“I try not to put too much pressure on myself,” said Nash. “If I’m trying to replace him, it’s never going to work. He’s one of the best defensive forwards, one of the best offensive forwards if you look at his numbers this year. Everybody in the lineup feels responsible to step up their game and just fill the void. I’m just trying to get out there and give those guys the puck as much as possible. They’re pretty talented guys, Pastrnak and Marchand. I’m just trying to play my game. I think I did a pretty average job of doing that. But it was one of those games that wasn’t pretty at times but we got it done.”

With Begeron out, Sean Kuraly bumped up to the third center spot and Tommy Wingels drew back in on the fourth line.

Rookie return

Though the Bruins suffered a big loss when Bergeron wasn’t able to play in Game 4, the B’s did get healthier on the back end with rookie defenseman Matt Grzelcyk returning after missing Game 3 with a lower body injury. He played 15:16 with a blocked shot and a hit.

The return added some mobility to the B’s back end, something they needed against the speedy Leafs.

Grzelcyk helped solidify the defense when he was called up on Nov. 22, and he’s gotten better as the season’s worn on and his confidence has grown.

“He’s complemented well by his partner, which is usually (Adam) McQuaid or (Kevan) Miller, so he’s got the ability to transition the puck very well by himself, get out of some piles and the D-zone coverage and make a good first pass,” said Cassidy. “In the neutral zone he can track down pucks before teams are set on their defense or during a line change, he’s good at getting it up. He identifies who’s available and there’s very low risk generally in his game.”

Taking advantage

One of the B’s biggest areas of success in this series has been on the power play. They scored five manadvantage goals in the first two games and, with an ounce of luck, they would have had another one in Game 3 early in the third period, which was their only PP on the night. Thanks to Frederick Andersen and a couple of posts, the Leafs barely survived it.

The Leafs fought it the best possible way last night — they didn’t give them any power plays. The B’s had just one in the two games here in Toronto while the Leafs had two, one in each game.