How the Bruins gutted their way to a Game 1 win without Patrice Bergeron
"We know that we can keep building. We can find our playoff game."
For the fifth time during the 2022-23 season, the Bruins took to the ice without their captain, Patrice Bergeron.
And for the fifth time, Boston skated off the frozen sheet with a victory.
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Bergeron’s defensive dominance, playmaking capabilities in the slot, and on-ice presence can’t be replicated, especially under the bright lights of the postseason.
But all season long, a deep Bruins roster has found various avenues to keep their stingy, effective game plan intact without their top-line pivot in place.
Here’s how a shorthanded Bruins squad scratched and clawed their way to a Game 1 victory over the Panthers on Monday night.
Slowing down Aleksander Barkov
Bergeron’s career highlight reel is chock full of momentum-shifting tallies and series-ending goals in the postseason.
But the 37-year-old center’s ability to shut down opposing stars gives Boston a trump card that has carried it through multiple playoff runs in the past.
Already this season, the Bruins have tilted the ice in their favor whenever Bergeron has skated up against Florida’s top-line center in Aleksander Barkov.
In three regular-season meetings, the Bruins outshot the Panthers, 27-7, and outscored them, 2-0, in the reps where both Selke Trophy winners were on the ice at the same time.
Florida’s high-octane offense has various ways to generate scoring chances, especially with Matthew Tkachuk driving his own line.
But slowing down Barkov’s line (featuring 42-goal scorer Carter Verhaeghe) stood as a top objective for Jim Montgomery’s team, and one easier said than done with Bergeron sidelined.
By the time the final seconds ticked off the clock at TD Garden on Monday, Barkov was a minus-1 and limited to zero shots on goal in 19:51 of ice time.
Boston’s de-facto “shutdown” D pair of Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo earned most of their reps against Barkov’s line, with the Bruins and Panthers all even at four shots apiece in the 9:06 of 5v5 ice time that Lindholm and Barkov skated against one other.
Up front, Montgomery rolled out his reworked top line of Brad Marchand, Pavel Zacha, and Jake DeBrusk against Barkov.
“I just think Lindholm and Brando did a really good job of having great gaps against that line,” Montgomery said of his defense’s showing against Florida’s top line. “I don’t look at it like a Barkov thing. I’m looking at like the line they’re matched up against. Because Verhaeghe has 40 goals. And for the most part, we did a really good job.
“All together, we did a good job, like the way we track things — we only gave up seven grade-A chances. That’s going to put you in a good situation to win a lot of hockey games.”
When the series heads down to Florida, bench boss Paul Maurice will likely try and shake Barkov away from Boston’s top line, especially if Bergeron is cleared to play.
But the benefit of last change and seeking easier matchups doesn’t often benefit teams battling the Bruins, not with a pair of defensive centers in Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek available for deployment.
Stout work on the penalty kill
It’s a testament to the depth of Boston’s shorthanded squad that the team negated 39 straight opposing power plays with Derek Forbort out of the lineup in March and April.
Now that the sturdy blueliner is back in the equation, Boston’s PK once again delivered with Bergeron on the shelf.
The Bruins have the defensive structure in place to repel most of Florida’s rush-heavy offense.
But Florida can still do plenty of damage with a top-10-ranked power play, especially with players like Tkachuk clearing space down low.
But on Monday, the Panthers’ man advantage was completely toothless. During Florida’s 0-for-2 showing, the Bruins actually outshot them, 2-0.
Forbort’s return did prompt Montogmery to sit out Matt Grzelcyk, a gifted puck-mover.
But handing Forbort those taxing PK minutes also made life easier for other B’s defensemen, with skaters like Lindholm and Dmitry Orlov handed more minutes at even strength and on the power play.
“I think just how connected we were — all four guys — from the forecheck and into our zone and off the faceoffs,” Montgomery said of Boston’s penalty kill. “I thought that we ran good routes and stick positioning and were all connected.”
Pavel Zacha steps up
In what has been a recurring theme all season long, Boston’s center depth has been bolstered by the presence of Pavel Zacha as a dependable backup option.
Replacing Bergeron as Boston’s top-line center next to Marchand and DeBrusk, Zacha recorded an assist on DeBrusk’s second-period tally and also won 10 of his 17 faceoff opportunities.
Boston also held a 17-9 advantage in shot attempts when Zacha was on the ice. Not bad for a player making his first playoff appearance in five years.
“He’s got so much skill and speed, he’s a big guy,” Taylor Hall said of Zacha. “He’s a super nice kid, maybe too nice at times, I mean he could really throw himself into some guys on the ice. But it’s been great to see. He’s a great guy and he works hard.
“To see his growth from Jersey to now and from the start of the season to now has been awesome for our team.”
A stout showing at the faceoff dot
Boston wasn’t exactly crisp with the puck on Monday, with Florida’s forecheck creating plenty of turnovers and miscues in the Bruins’ own zone.
But Montgomery’s team did manage to gain a number of possessions off of some strong play at the dot, especially with Zacha stepping into Bergeron’s skates on the top line. In his head-to-head battles with Barkov, Zacha won seven of 12 faceoff battles.
“Being around Krejci, [Tomas] Nosek, and Bergeron helps you,” Montgomery said of Zacha’s growth at faceoffs. “They talk about the art of winning faceoffs. He’s a student of the game, so he picks up stuff real easily.”
While Zacha held his own, Nosek was an ace in D-zone situations. Despite having just one faceoff in the offensive zone, Nosek won 10 of his 14 opportunities, most of which were in and around Linus Ullmark.
Ullmark stands as the great equalizer
Things could have been far worse for the Bruins in Game 1.
With Florida’s forechecking giving them fits all night, the Bruins coughed up a number of quality chances in their own end on Monday night.
At 5v5 play, the Panthers generated 15 high-danger looks, per Natural Stat Trick. But only one managed to slip past Ullmark, who recorded 31 saves en route to his first postseason win.
Given the number of quality looks that Florida peppered him with, Ullmark ended Game 1 with an expected goals against rate of 3.14. Limiting the damage to just one tally from Tkachuk is a credit to Ullmark’s poised play between the pipes.
With or without Bergeron, the Bruins will look for a cleaner game offensively on Wednesday night in Game 2.
“I like that we won, and we didn’t really play, I think, to the best of our ability,” Charlie McAvoy said. “I think that we’re going to keep building, get some pieces back. Whatever you want to call it. We know that we can keep building. We can find our playoff game, find the way that we want to dictate and play our game. There’s a lot to be encouraged of.”
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