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Less than an hour before puck drop of a crucial Game 4, the Bruins found out that Patrice Bergeron (upper-body, considered ‘day-to-day’) would not be available.
Given Bergeron’s importance -- he’s the driving force of the best line in hockey, plays in every situation possible, and has been asked to be a shutdown force against the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews -- and with all due respect to replacement-on-the-fly Riley Nash, this could have and should have been a total backbreaker for the Bruins.
But with a Torey Krug shot clapped by Frederik Andersen just 28 seconds into the first period, and with two goals with involvement from the Bergeron-less Bergeron line in a 3-1 final, the B’s managed their way into a 3-1 series lead coming back to Boston.
...Just as everybody drew it up.
Or how you could have drawn it up, to be honest.
Everything about this season has been a test of this club’s ability to deal with adversity.
Bergeron is not the first Bruin to suddenly become unavailable just an hour before a game. The same happened earlier in the season with a David Krejci injury, and then after the deadline when Rick Nash came down with some post-concussion issues.
And the Bruins have had to battle through injuries to Bergeron long before tonight.
He missed the first five games of the season (the Bruins were a disaster then), and then missed 13 games during the regular season stretch run. The Bruins fared much better the second time around, for what it’s worth, with a 9-2-2 record sans Bergeron.
Previous experience with this situation undoubtedly helped a player like Brad Marchand, somebody that’s been attached to Bergeron’s hip since 2011, play his game as if were No. 37 were there, with a goal and two shots in a forward-leading 20:25 of time on ice.
Being down an all-world center also forced Riley Nash, Sean Kuraly, and Noel Acciari to up their own-zone play to the best of their ability. The trio combined for seven defensive-zone faceoff wins, including four from Nash against Tomas Plekanec.
The Bruins had a massive d-zone buy-in from all of their skaters, in fact, with 12 different players finishing the win with at least one blocked shot, including four from both Kuraly and Tommy Wingels (back in action for the first time since Game 1).
And on the heels of a could-have-been-better performance in Game 3, Tuukka Rask set the tone for the night with stops on all but one of the 32 shots the Leafs threw his way.
Is this the kind of performance that the Black and Gold put together if this is their first time dealing without the services of their best all-around player? Likely not.
So consider Thursday another test passed, and with a knockout punch now on the table as this series shifts back to a rockin’ TD Garden for another Saturday night showdown.
With or without Bergeron.
This and that
- I honestly think that Jake DeBrusk has been the second-best Boston forward in this series (behind David Pastrnak and his postseason-leading 11 points, of course). He’s relentless on the forecheck, makes something out of nothing on almost every single shift, and proven himself capable of handling ‘the moment’ that comes with a jump to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kid’s a gamer.
- Slow start, but a strong finish for the David Krejci line as a whole, to be honest. It seems that we’ve been waiting for this line to truly get their act together, and the third period of this game was the perfect setting. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Bruins tend to have deep postseason runs when Krejci is performing at a high level. Get he and Rick Nash going and it’s lights out.
- For what it’s worth, the Bruins are hopeful that they’ll get Bergeron back for Saturday’s Game 5.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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