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Patrice Bergeron Out For Game 1

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The Boston Bruins set several regular season records with their tremendous play this season including the most wins (65) ever in a single season and the most points (135) in the standings in NHL history as well. The Bruins have a deep roster at every position, and are poised for a long playoff run that begins tonight when they host the Florida Panthers. Unfortunately, the Bruins will be without a key member of the team for Game 1.

Patrice Bergeron will miss the opening night of the playoffs, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Bergeron is dealing with an illness that is going around the Bruins locker room, and was unable to suit up for the opening game of the playoffs. It is impossible to overstate Bergeron’s importance to the Bruins success as he is arguably the best defensive center in the league, and also scored 27 goals and 58 points in 78 games this season.

The Bruins are deep down the middle of the ice, and will move Pavel Zacha, who had 21 goals and 57 points this season to center on the top line. David Krejci scored 16 goals and 56 points in 70 games this season, Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek give the Bruins impressive depth down the middle even without their top center.

Bergeron left the Bruins final regular season game after playing just five minutes, though it was said to be for precautionary reasons. An illness would signal a shorter-term absence and nothing to worry about as the playoffs progress. But, the 37-year-old missed a little time late in the season with nagging injuries and left their final game quickly just four days ago.

While the Bruins just won more regular season games than anyone, getting Bergeron back at 100% in short order would go a long way toward them reaching their ultimate goal for this season.

Nick Foligno Could Return For Game 1

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  • While the availability of some other Boston Bruins players is uncertain, head coach Jim Montgomery said there’s a “strong possibility” Nick Foligno returns to the lineup tonight after a months-long absence. Foligno missed the last 22 regular-season games with a lower-body injury, but his return from long-term injured reserve gives the Bruins an additional 62 games of playoff experience to inject into their lineup. He notched one assist in seven playoff games with Boston last year.

PHR Playoff Primer: Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

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With the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs set to begin tomorrow, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We continue our look with the Atlantic Division showdown between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.

With each record that they set during their 65-win, 135-point regular season, the focus began to shift for the Boston Bruins. They’ve known they’d be making the playoffs since December, if not earlier. While other teams went to battle with the focus of securing a playoff spot, the Bruins were chasing records etched into the books by some of the NHL’s most historic teams. Now? The records have been set, their regular season is over, and they’re now in the same postseason boat as everybody else: zero wins, zero losses.

For this Boston team, making a deep run is considered the bare minimum. Anything less than a berth in the conference finals will feel like a disappointment, and it’s very likely that anything less than a Stanley Cup victory will leave fans in New England wanting more.

For the Florida Panthers, it was an uneven regular season that left them in the wholly undesirable position of being Boston’s first-round opponent. There are many who will expect these Panthers to serve as the Washington Generals to Boston’s Harlem Globetrotters, but just write them off in this series would be a mistake.

One must remember that it was just a few years ago that the Tampa Bay Lightning flirted with regular-season history, only to be swept in the first round of the playoffs against a hungry Blue Jackets team that just barely scraped their way into the playoffs. This is a scrappy Panthers team looking to move past the disappointment that defined their elimination in last year’s playoffs, led by new franchise face Matthew Tkachuk.

Will the Bruins take their first step toward a place in hockey history? Will their regular-season dominance extend to the postseason in a way it couldn’t for the 2018-19 Lightning? Or will we see another historic upset, perhaps even with reigning Calder Cup Champion Alex Lyon leading Florida to glory?

Regular Season Performance

Boston: 65-12-5, 135 points, +128 goal differential
Florida: 42-32-8, 92 points, +17 goal differential

Head-To-Head

October 17th, 2022: Boston 5, Florida 3
November 23rd, 2022: Florida 5, Boston 2
December 19th, 2022: Boston 7, Florida 3
January 28th, 2023: Florida 4, Boston 3

Series tied 2-2

Team Storylines

The Bruins are one of the NHL’s deepest, most talented teams, with a lineup full of top-end talent and valuable role players. You don’t set the NHL record for regular-season success without an elite lineup, after all. But the major question for the Bruins is something relatively out of their control: health.

They have experience, with a few players remaining from the team’s 2011 Stanley Cup victory and even more from the 2019 roster that just barely missed out on a championship. They have scoring talent, led by 61-goal, 113-point scorer David Pastrnak, defensive talent, and a goalie who posted an otherworldly .938 save percentage in the regular season.

But among those top players, there are some health-related question marks. We covered reports earlier today that Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron could miss the first game of the series, and Linus Ullmark has been dealing with an undisclosed injury in recent days, though he did practice yesterday with no restrictions.

This Bruins team is one that has 2019 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall listed as a third-liner, alongside Tyler Bertuzzi, who has scored 16 points in 21 games in Boston. They have a stable full of versatile, capable players who can handle any situation thrown at them. The major question, then, will be if those players can stay healthy, and if they can maintain the standard of play they set in the regular season in the more intense environment of the playoffs.

There are no roster-related question marks surrounding this Bruins team, as long as they stay healthy. The main storyline to watch for this series, from their perspective, will be availability and execution, and those are two factors that are impossible to fully evaluate before the puck is dropped tomorrow.

For Florida, the main storyline relates to their situation in their crease.

With the Panthers’ season on the line, the team turned to Lyon, an AHL netminder who won the Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves last season.

He played extremely well, rattling off a six-game winning streak that revived Florida’s fading playoff dreams.

If the Panthers want to have any hope of pulling off the impossible and becoming the second underdog to stun a record-setting, 60-plus win team in the first round, they’ll need Lyon to play as he did during the winning streak.

They’ll also need their penalty kill to step up, as the Bruins powerplay, while inconsistent, is capable of scorching hot stretches. The Panthers’ penalty kill ranked 23rd in the NHL this season, killing 76% of opposing man advantages. The Bruins killed off 87.3%, the highest rate in the NHL by a decent margin.

While goaltending will be the main focus in this series, special teams could also be the battleground where Florida either finds a way to get ahead or ends up falling apart.

Prediction

The Panthers are a quality team whose stellar play in recent weeks rightfully earned them a spot in the playoffs. With players such as Tkachuk, and Aleksander Barkov, and an experienced coach like Paul Maurice, they’re not exactly the easiest team to bet against. The pressure the Bruins will be facing as such a successful regular-season team will be immense, and to discount how impactful that pressure could be would be a mistake.

That being said, how realistic is the possibility that these Bruins, who barely ever lose consecutive games, fall to a team potentially starting a goalie with under 40 games of NHL experience? How likely is it that the possible final act of Bergeron’s illustrious NHL career ends with a humiliating upset loss to a division rival?

The Blue Jackets proved a few years ago that anything can happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs. NHL-caliber players on any team, regardless of where they are in the standings, have it in them to find a way to win any game, regardless of the challenge posed by their opposition.

In the final game of their regular season, the basement-dwelling Montreal Canadiens held their own against and nearly beat the Bruins. But in a seven-game series? That’s a far taller task, and it seems as though the Boston will have more than enough to outlast even the fiercest of challenges from the Panthers.

The prediction: Bruins win in six games.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Patrice Bergeron Questionable For Game 1

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Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney inferred on Sunday that team captain Patrice Bergeron will be a game-time decision for Game 1 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers tomorrow. Sweeney confirmed that Bergeron, 37, had been dealing with both an illness and an injury. He also stated that the veteran center “doesn’t need extra days of practice” to prepare for the upcoming matchup. Bergeron recorded 27 goals and 31 assists in 78 games during the Bruins’ record-breaking regular season.

The team will likely leave the decision up to their captain, with Sweeney telling reporters, “if [Bergeron’s] feeling well enough, he’ll play.” If Bergeron cannot play, Pavel Zacha has taken line rushes between Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk on the Bruins’ top line during practice this weekend.

Patrice Bergeron Leaves Game For Precautionary Reasons

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The Boston Bruins have announced that Patrice Bergeron will not be returning to tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. Bergeron left the game in the first period with an apparent upper body issue. The Bruins stopped short of calling the issue an injury and the team’s official Twitter account tweeted that he would not return for precautionary reasons. The move makes sense given the fact that Boston has very little to play for at this point. The Bruins have already locked up the Presidents Trophy and will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. CBS Sports is reporting that they don’t expect his absence to affect his availability in the playoffs.

The Bruins have had to try and strike a delicate balance these last few weeks between resting players and staying sharp for the playoffs. Bergeron was recently quoted by Boston Hockey Now saying, “as we got closer to the playoffs, we thought maybe it was a good idea to play some games. Get involved in some of those because it’s a quick turnaround and you want to stay sharp.” While it makes sense to stay sharp, there will be a lot of criticism if Bergeron misses any of the playoffs with the ailment.

The Bruins have had very little to play for the last little while after a historic season. It’s rare to see a team display such utter dominance for an entire season. But the Bruins don’t have to look back far to find a 60+ win team that faltered in the playoffs. The 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning won 62 regular season games and were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. One might wonder if that playoff debacle for the Lightning played into Boston’s decision to dress their stars for meaningless games down the stretch.

End Of Season Bruins Injuries

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After a report yesterday signaling that Boston Bruins star center David Krejci would be shut down for the remainder of the regular season, head coach Jim Montgomery announces that he will be ready for Game 1 of the NHL playoffs. This is good news for the Bruins, as Krejci is one of their best playoff performers in franchise history.

For their depth players, primarily about injured defenseman Derek Forbort and forward Nick Foligno, the Bruins head coach says they are both, “checking boxes”. It’s unclear whether either will be ready for the Bruins’ first-round playoff matchup. With the depth Boston added to their blue line at the trade deadline, it’s also unclear whether Forbort would play for the Bruins in the playoffs regardless. Foligno would be a much more lethal addition, rebounding from a disastrous 2021-22 season, scoring 10 goals and 16 assists for the Bruins this year.

For this year’s playoffs, the Bruins will have a home-ice advantage throughout the entirety. Although the Eastern Conference wild-card race has not been entirely settled yet, they will play the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, or the Pittsburgh Penguins for their opening-round matchup.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • Jameson Olive, the Senior Digital Content Manager for the Panthers, relays on a message from head coach Paul Maurice, announcing that forward Sam Bennett will not play in Florida’s final regular season game. Although the Panthers clinched a spot in the playoffs last night, they don’t know if they will be playing the Bruins or the winner of the Metropolitan division. The team has played well in Bennett’s absence, as the forward has not played since their March 20th win against the Detroit Red Wings. Bennett has had a similar year to his last, scoring 16 goals and 24 assists for the Panthers this season.

Boston Bruins Recall Brandon Bussi On Emergency Basis

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The Boston Bruins recalled goaltender Brandon Bussi from the minors on an emergency basis, according to a team release Wednesday morning. Bussi’s recall comes in response to Linus Ullmark leaving yesterday’s game with an undisclosed injury, which head coach Jim Montgomery later told reporters was a precautionary move.

David Krejci Shut Down For Regular Season

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Boston Bruins star center, David Krejci, will not be in the lineup for Boston’s final two games of the regular season. Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now reports that Krejci will be out with a lower-body injury.

In missing the final two games of the season, this will be the sixth game Krejci has missed in a row and the 12th that he has missed all season. Krejci did skate this morning, and Boston head coach Jim Montgomery said, “Today was his best day. That has us optimistic about where he’s going to be for Game 1 [of the playoffs]”. 

In his return to Boston this season, Krejci has shown the Bruins what they were missing last year, scoring 16 goals and 40 assists in 70 games played for the President’s Trophy winners. Last year, after a 15-year stretch in Boston, Krejci famously left for Czechia, joining HC Olomouc for the 2021-22 season.

In his return to New England, Krejci has filled a vital role, aiding the Bruins on their quest to break the all-time single-season win record, something they did against the Philadelphia Flyers last Sunday. Outside of the regular season, Krejci’s playoff performances in his career have become legends in Boston.

During their Stanley Cup championship run in the 2011 playoffs, Krejci played in 25 games, scoring 12 goals and 11 assists, leading the playoffs in scoring. Two years later, the Bruins again returned to the Stanley Cup Final, and once again Krejci led the way for all players. In 22 games, Krejci scored nine goals and 17 assists, unfortunately failing to the Chicago Blackhawks for the sport’s greatest trophy.

In Krejci’s absence, the Bruins have received exceptional play at the center position from both Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha. However, when it comes to the playoffs, Krejci has historically been one of the very best, and Boston is optimistic that he will join the team for their effort.

Boston Bruins Reassign Five Players

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April 10: All five have been returned to the AHL today.

April 9: The Boston Bruins have announced that five players have been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, on an emergency basis. The players are: Vinni Lettieri, Oskar Steen, Jack Ahcan, Connor Carrick, and Brandon Bussi.

The moves come as the Bruins deal with some lingering injury issues while having already clinched the President’s Trophy. While former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall has been activated off of LTIR and back on the ice, the Bruins placed two players on Long-Term Injured Reserve yesterday and have contributors such as David Krejci still on their active roster but out of the lineup.

Since the Bruins are taking on the Philadelphia Flyers on the second half of a back-to-back set of games today, these recalls give coach Jim Montgomery the breathing room he needs to rest certain veterans or at the very least avoid overworking certain players in order to cope with the injury-related absences.

For these recalls, only one has suited up in a game for the Bruins this season, Steen. The other four have played the whole season in Providence. Steen, 25, has already played for the Bruins twice this month and has played in three total NHL games this season, scoring one goal. The speedy Swedish forward has scored 14 goals and 31 points in 63 games for Providence.

The other forward to be recalled is the 28-year-old minor league veteran Lettieri. Lettieri scored 10 points in 31 games for the Anaheim Ducks last season and is an accomplished AHL scorer, with 225 career points in 264 games. This season, he’s leading all Providence regulars with 45 points in 45 games, and now has a chance to make his NHL debut this season on one of the winningest teams in league history.

The first of two defensemen to be recalled is the 25-year-old Ahcan, an undersized offensive defenseman who the Bruins signed as an undrafted free agent out of the NCAA’s St. Cloud State in 2020. Ahcan got off to a fast start to his pro career, scoring 10 points in 19 AHL games and earning three games in Boston with the Bruins.

The following season, 2021-22, Ahcan’s AHL performance was less consistent. But although he finished with an underwhelming 23 points in 46 games, he did manage to earn six NHL games.

Ahcan has taken a step forward this season and become Providence’s number-two scoring option from the back end, producing 31 points in 65 games.

Despite that increase in production, though, Ahcan hasn’t earned time on the Bruins’ roster until today.

The other defenseman to be recalled is Carrick, a veteran of nearly 250 NHL games. The 28-year-old was once seen as a promising up-and-coming blueliner in the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs organizations, but a mix of major injuries and inconsistent performance scuttled his hopes of delivering on that promise in his early-to-mid twenties.

Despite that disappointment, Carrick has over the past two years established himself as a difference-making minor-league blueliner who can contribute on both ends of the ice and help his team make the playoffs. Last season he scored 32 points in 59 games for the Charlotte Checkers, and this season he leads all Providence defensemen with 41 points in 60 games.

Of this group of five players that has been recalled, Carrick is the one who possesses the most NHL experience. The opportunity for him to get NHL minutes is a  significant one, as Carrick is on an expiring league-minimum two-way deal and getting some solid NHL shifts on tape before he hits the market in a few months could be extremely useful.

The final player recalled is a goalie, Bussi. Unlike the four skaters recalled with him, the 24-year-old hasn’t yet suited up for an NHL game. In fact, Bussi only made his professional debut last season. He has had a strong 31-game season in Providence, though, and his 21-5-4 record and .925 save percentage are highly respectable figures.

It’s unclear whether Bussi will get any time in the Bruins’ crease as they close out their regular season, but given Vezina Trophy contender Linus Ullmark’s injury history over the course of his career, it seems logical that the Bruins would want to add another name to the mix in their crease to ensure their two established netminders are able to get the rest they might need before the playoffs.

Seeing as Providence doesn’t play until Saturday whereas Boston has a game today (after playing yesterday) and two more this week, it seems these recalls were made to help add some fresh legs to the Bruins’ roster with their regular-season fate already decided.

Since these moves likely won’t impact their AHL team’s chase of an Atlantic Division title, bringing them to the active roster to possibly allow some Bruins veterans to take a game off seems like a wise decision for a squad looking to make a deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Linus Ullmark Dealing With Lower-Body Issue

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Goalie Linus Ullmark did not travel with the Boston Bruins to Philadelphia for their game against the Flyers on Sunday due to a lower-body issue, according to Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery. The Bruins recalled Brandon Bussi from the AHL (along with four others) this morning to serve as the backup to Jeremy Swayman in Ullmark’s absence. Bussi has played in 31 games for the Providence Bruins this season, posting a spectacular 21-5-4 record with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

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