Boston Bruins

Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron not playing in Game 1 vs. Panthers after not taking part in warmups

The Bruins will open their Cup run without their captain in Patrice Bergeron.

Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron plays against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Boston.
Patrice Bergeron is not expected to play in Game 1 against the Panthers. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

By Conor Ryan

1 minute to read

The Bruins are going to start their latest Stanley Cup run without their captain on the ice.

After Jim Montgomery acknowledged on Monday morning that he didn’t have a “definitive lineup” for Boston’s playoff opener against the Panthers due to a virus in the locker room, captain Patrice Bergeron did not take part in warmups ahead of puck drop against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.

Bergeron was one of many players considered a game-time decision on Monday, with the first-line center kept off the ice over the past three days due to both illness and a nagging upper-body injury.

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Linus Ullmark was put in that same category in terms of his availability on Monday morning, but the Vezina Trophy frontrunner led Boston onto the TD Garden ice to start against Alex Lyon.

The only other lineup reshuffle is on the blue line, with Derek Forbort slotting in for Matt Grzelcyk. Montgomery noted over the weekend that Grzelcyk was dealing with a nagging injury.

With Bergeron sidelined for Game 1, Pavel Zacha will slot up to the top line as Boston’s 1C, with Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk flanking him.

“Pavel has assumed a lot of those responsibilities,” Don Sweeney said of Zacha’s reps down the middle on Sunday. “And he’s handled it really well. I mean, obviously the face offs if that comes up, it’s lefties versus righties. And Patrice is one of the best in the game. So it’s an area where everybody has to dig in.

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“When one of your better players is out, like we’ve played different games with Patrice this year being out and all those guys have stepped in. But that’s to be decided. So we’re not focused on that. Obviously, Pavel gets some reps that’s much needed to play with Jake and Brad, because he hasn’t played a lot with him. … That’s not something we’re really concerned about, at this point.”

Here is Boston’s expected lineup:

Marchand-Zacha-DeBrusk
Bertuzzi-Krejci-Pastrnak
Hall-Coyle-Frederic
Foligno-Nosek-Hathaway

Orlov-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Clifton

Ullmark
Swayman

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Conor Ryan

Sports Writer

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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