Is Montgomery to blame for Bergeron being out injured?
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after his team’s Game 2 loss to the Panthers that he would consider “changes everywhere.” Not only has he considered them, but now he’s making them.
The Bruins will have different forward lines, different defense pairs and possibly a different goalie for Friday night’s Game 3 in Sunrise, Florida.
Let’s start with the lineup the Bruins rolled out at morning skate, according to numerous reporters on the scene, and then break it down:
Tyler Bertuzzi - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - David Krejci - Jake DeBrusk
Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle - Trent Frederic
Jakub Lauko - Tomas Nosek - Garnet Hathaway
Extras: Nick Foligno, A.J. Greer, Oskar Steen
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Dmitry Orlov
Extras: Connor Clifton, Jakub Zboril
Jeremy Swayman
Brandon Bussi
Let’s start with who’s not there. Patrice Bergeron, who has missed the first two games of the series with an upper-body injury, was not on the ice. Neither was Linus Ullmark, who started Games 1 and 2.
Montgomery told reporters that Bergeron did not travel with the team, but that they believe he is “likely” to return for Game 5 when the series returns to Boston. Montgomery said Ullmark will be a game-time decision. He did not specify if Swayman is starting either way, or if Ullmark could still start Game 3.
OK, now for the changes. Zacha slides between Bertuzzi and Pastrnak, which is where Krejci had been for Games 1 and 2. As we outlined after Game 2, that line with Krejci just was not working at 5-on-5. Bertuzzi-Zacha-Pastrnak worked well in the regular season, posting 55.7% Corsi and a 7-4 goal differential in 74 minutes together. This switch makes a lot of sense.
We’re going to call that the top line, because at least on paper, that’s what it looks like. The next two lines are pretty interchangeable in terms of which one you want to call the second line and which one you want to call the third.
Putting Hall and DeBrusk with Krejci gives the veteran center more speed, transition ability and defensive support on the wings. The thinking there makes sense. Bertuzzi-Krejci-Pastrnak was spending way too much time stuck in their own zone and couldn’t get anything going in transition.
Marchand was the Bruins’ best player in Game 2, so putting him on the “third” line certainly isn’t a demotion. What it does is lengthen the lineup and give the Bruins a line that, in theory, should do an awful lot of grinding and dirty work, especially when it comes to offensive-zone cycling and reloading. Again, you can at least see what Montgomery is going for. And if it doesn’t work, then flipping Marchand and Hall would be a pretty easy move to make in-game.
On the fourth line, Lauko going in for Foligno gives that line more speed as well. Foligno also still might not be fully up to speed given that he just returned from a leg injury in Game 1.
On defense, putting Grzelcyk in was another obvious move that we called after Game 2. The Bruins need to be better 5-on-5, especially when it comes to their breakout and transition game. Those are Grzelcyk’s strengths. His plus-40 goal differential at 5-on-5 in the regular season was the best mark in the league. His chemistry with McAvoy is natural.
Forbort staying in over Clifton is interesting, especially since it forces Orlov to flip to his off side. Presumably Forbort’s penalty-killing ability (the Bruins’ PK is 5-for-5 this series) continues to work in his favor.
Will all the changes work out? We’ll find out Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. on NESN and TNT.