Should the Bruins have rested more players in regular-season finale?
The Bruins got some bodies back at Saturday’s practice as they prepare for Monday night’s Game 1 against the Panthers, but there were a couple very notable absences as well.
Patrice Bergeron, who left Thursday’s regular-season finale with an upper-body injury for what the team termed “precautionary” reasons, was not on the ice for practice, the team’s first since then after having an off day Friday. On top of that, Brad Marchand left practice early and did not return.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery downplayed both situations after practice.
“We’re just giving him extra rest,” Montgomery said of Bergeron. “He’s had a long year. Same thing with Marchy. Marchy wanted to give it a try today, and he didn’t feel -- he had a little bit of soreness. So I said, ‘Get off the ice.’
“We knew it was gonna be a hard practice, so we were very cautious. Even like, Grizzy [Matt Grzelcyk] is a little sore, so he didn’t partake in the scrimmage part of it. Just precautionary.”
Montgomery said the upper-body injury Bergeron left Thursday’s game with was “something he’s dealt with before,” and added that “he knows how to deal with it.”
There was good news elsewhere on the injury front, with Linus Ullmark, David Krejci, Nick Foligno, Tomas Nosek and Derek Forbort all practicing in full in regular jerseys after dealing with injuries or illnesses of varying severity. Montgomery said there were “no issues” with Ullmark, who left Tuesday's game and did not travel to Montreal, although he declined to name a Game 1 starting goalie.
Foligno and Forbort are the two who have been out the longest, but both could be in the Game 1 lineup if they get through the next couple days fine.
“I thought Foligno looked really good,” Montgomery said. “I thought there was a little rustiness on Forbort.”
Obviously, any issues for Bergeron and/or Marchand could loom large, though. The Bruins will practice again on Sunday and they’ll likely have a morning skate on Monday as well, so there are still opportunities for them to get on the ice before Game 1.
With Bergeron out, Pavel Zacha centered Marchand (while he was on the ice) and Jake DeBrusk at Saturday’s practice, while Krejci went between David Pastrnak and Tyler Bertuzzi. The third line of Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic remained intact, while Nick Foligno reclaimed his usual spot on the fourth line next to Tomas Nosek and Garnet Hathaway. A.J. Greer and Jakub Lauko skated as extra forwards, with Lauko bumping up later in practice once Marchand left.
On defense, Forbort stepped onto the third pair next to Connor Clifton, behind a top four of Dmitry Orlov-Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo. Grzelcyk bumped to the extra fourth pairing with Jakub Zboril. That could be an indication that he might be a healthy scratch come Monday night, or it could just be the little extra rest Montgomery referenced for him.
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