Krejci good to go in Game 1, but Bergeron out of lineup
David Krejci missed the final six games of the regular season, recovering from what Bruins coach Jim Montgomery called a nagging lower-body injury.
He did not miss the Bruins 3-1 win over the Panthers in Game 1 on Monday night.
The Bruins’ No. 2 center was written in permanent marker into the lineup, though Montgomery did not reveal much else after the club’s optional morning skate in Brighton.
A bug has been going around the room, the coach said, for the last “10 days to two weeks.” He said Jakub Lauko, who has recovered, lost 8 pounds when he had it. Others known to have been ill of late include Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak (who played through an illness April 6), and Tomas Nosek (who missed the regular-season finale Thursday in Montreal).
Bergeron, who has been dealing with an upper-body injury, was a scratch for Game 1 at TD Garden. Pavel Zacha took his place on the No. 1 line, between Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. we trust in our depth,” Charlie McAvoy said. “We trust in each other, that whoever’s going to go out there’s going to get the job done.”
Krejci was the NHL’s playoff leading scorer in 2011 and 2013. He carries a 42-83—125 line in 156 playoff games after earning an assist on Pastrnak’s opening goal. Only Ray Bourque (36125—161 in 180 games) and Bergeron (49-78—127 in 167) have played in more playoff games and scored more points in franchise history.
Montgomery said he first realized how good a postseason performer Krejci was in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, when he “was on the elbow making plays in big moments.”
“He’s been really good,” Montgomery said. “He’s skating better than he has in two months, in my opinion, the last couple of days. So I’m glad we took the precautionary measures we did with him.
“He looks — and you can tell — he has that twinkle in his eye. Which is good. He has that little grin on his face, when he knows more than me. Which he does.”
His trademark sangfroid on full display — and noting that he feels refreshed after his two-week layoff — Krejci called it “just another day.”
“Not really stress,” he said of his mind-set. “Obviously nerves. I think those are kind of healthy nerves. If you don’t have those nerves, I guess there’s something wrong with you. Those are fun nerves. Those are the nerves you live for, and it’s fun to have. I feel not many people who do their job, they get nerves like that. I’m trying to welcome that and enjoy it and embrace it.
“But when you step on the ice, it’s all gone. You just focus on the game.”
He wouldn’t have trouble focusing without Bergeron on the ice.
“You worry about yourself,” Krejci said. “You try to be prepared as best you can be. If you do your job — I think we’ve done a pretty good job in this room just believing in ourselves; if you do your job, you believe the guy next to you is going to do his job as well.”
This is why Krejci, who spent last year playing in Czechia, came back. A season with his closest friends in the game. Earning another chance at the Cup. Here they are.
“Playoffs, that’s the best time of the year,” he said. “Every little thing matters. The season or the life here, it’s long. I don’t know — I guess I’m just trying to stay in the moment.
“Didn’t really think about playoffs too much during the regular season. Just thinking about playing. And yeah, here we are. I’m excited to go. It should be fun.”
Forbort, Foligno return
Derek Forbort, who missed the previous 15 games with a lower-body injury after a March 16 shot block in Winnipeg, returned and played next to regular partner Connor Clifton, behind the top four of Dmitry Orlov–McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm–Brandon Carlo. Forbort’s return knocked Matt Grzelcyk out of the lineup.
Fourth-line left wing Nick Foligno, who injured his knee Feb. 28 in Calgary and missed 22 games, returned and bumped A.J. Greer out of action.
Montgomery praised Forbort, who skated 17:27 in his return and teamed with Carlo to kill two penalties and the game-ending six-on-five situation. Foligno skated 8:39 and took a penalty.
The Bruins recalled Providence ace Brandon Bussi as an emergency goaltender option behind Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman.
“Felt good. Felt terrific this morning,” Ullmark (31 saves said). “Once we did that, it was showtime.”
Quick on the draw
In addition to shutting down Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov (0-0–0, 0 shots in 19:51) without Bergeron, the Bruins won 52 percent of faceoffs. Nosek, working almost exclusively in the defensive zone, won 10 of 14 (71 percent). Zacha (10 for 17, 59 percent) and Charlie Coyle (7 for 13, 54 percent) were also above water, while Krejci (7 for 16, 44 percent) was not . . . Orlov landed a game-high five shots on nine attempts. He also played 22:32, more than McAvoy (22:28) . . . Florida’s Brandon Montour logged 27:09 on the visitors’ back end . . . ESPN cameras caught the Bruins standing in a circle in their dressing room before the game. Ullmark raised a finger to his lips when asked what was said. Said McAvoy: “All year we’ve been an extremely tight group. I think today was a little bit of celebrating that, understanding what we’ve worked for all year. The journey starts today. It was emotional. We wanted it to translate on the ice.”