Patrice Bergeron listed as a ‘game-time’ decision for Bruins’ Game 5 against the Panthers
"He's still such an amazing player and has such an impact."
Patrice Bergeron only has one more box to check before he makes his anticipated 2023 playoff debut with the Bruins.
Boston head coach Jim Montgomery said Wednesday morning that Bergeron will take part in warmups ahead of Game 5 against the Panthers and is listed as a game-time decision.
Bergeron missed the first four games of Boston’s first-round series against Florida due to a nagging upper-body injury. The 37-year-old forward suffered the injury during the Bruins’ final game of the regular season on April 13.
“As long as he feels after warmups that he feels everything’s good, then he’s going to play,” Montgomery said following Boston’s optional skate at Warrior Ice Arena.
If Bergeron is cleared for Wednesday’s potential series-clinching contest, the Bruins will need to slot a forward out of their lineup. Trent Frederic might be the first man up, as the pugnacious forward was bumped from Boston’s four forward lines during Tuesday’s practice.
Aside from Bergeron’s potential return, Montgomery doesn’t expect any lineup tweaks following Boston’s two road victories down at FLA Live Arena on Friday and Sunday.
David Krejci will miss his third straight game due to an upper-body injury, while Linus Ullmark will get the start in net for Game 5.
Krejci took part in conditioning drills on the ice at Warrior on Wednesday, his second-straight day of skating work with the team’s training and skills personnel. Montgomery noted Tuesday that Krejci “potentially” could play in a Game 6 on Friday night, if necessary.
After skating with his teammates for the first time in weeks, Bergeron said on Tuesday afternoon that he was not “not anticipating any setbacks” in his return from injury. Boston has fared well with their captain out of the lineup, especially with Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha driving play in top-six roles down the middle.
Still, Bergeron’s defensive impact has been missed, especially in terms of negating Florida’s top forward, Matthew Tkachuk.
“He’s so important for us,” Taylor Hall said of Bergeron. “Obviously off the ice, being our captain and our leader and our emotional guy, but on the ice as well. I mean, he’s still such an amazing player and has such an impact. Especially if we’re on home ice tonight and he can match up against Tkachuk or whoever it may be and really make life hard on a guy like that.
“Tkachuk has been a huge part of this series for them, in spite of the fact that we still have a lead, he’s been very impressive. So if Bergy is in tonight, I think that’ll be a really good thing for us.”
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