The Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 series lead with Krejci setting the pace offensively. But he suffered a wrist injury that ended his season in that Game 3 win, and the Bruins never got that elusive fourth win to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
In Game 1 of the rematch in this year's second round, Krejci showed just how much of a factor he can be when healthy. Krejci set the tone by opening the scoring with a goal 1:52 into the first period, then added another goal and two assists as the Bruins rolled to a convincing 7-3 win.
"He is a special player," linemate Nathan Horton said of Krejci. "We want him to have the puck as much as possible and he creates so much off of that and he gives everyone else a chance to score and a chance to be in the play."
Horton had a goal off a Krejci feed in the final minute of the first and also had the primary assist on Krejci early strike. By the end of the opening period, Krejci had already collected more points than he had in the entire seven-game opening-round series against Montreal, when Krejci was held to just one point.
"Well, he is one of our best players, so they definitely key on him," Horton said. "He wasn't on the scoresheet in the first round but I think he played alright and tonight was a great way to start the second round."
Other Bruins were also confident that Krejci would regain his scoring touch.
"He had a lot of opportunities against Montreal and a few missed open nets there," forward Brad Marchand said. "It was bound to go in at some point. He was playing very well and it was great for him to get a couple.
"That first goal by Kreech was huge for us," Marchand added. "It really got us going and maybe put them on their heels a bit. I think that something that we really wanted was to have a big start and show that we were ready for this series."
Before Krejci helped get the Bruins going. The Flyers may have helped get him started with some chirping about last year's injury and the club's collapse.
"The guys from the other team they let me know about it in the first period," Krejci said. "But I try to forget about those things. This is a new year, a new season, a new series. We have so many new players on our team, so half of the days didn't even experience that last year. We didn't talk that much about it. We were just focused on this game tonight.
"I try not to think about what happened last year, but it's in the back of my head," Krejci added. "You don't forget those things, but I try not to think about it. It's hard, but I just try to stay focused for the game and my teammates helped me out today."
Krejci was plenty focused on Saturday, which was no surprise to his coach.
"He's more of a quiet person, he doesn't say much," Claude Julien said. "But when you've had him a long time you kind of know his demeanor, you know how he operates. He's a very quiet kid but he's a very determined individual. There's times when he puts so much pressure on himself that it doesn't always help him, but once he finds his stride he's a very determined player, so hopefully this game has really helped him and will hopefully keep him going that way."
Krejci hopes to keep producing as well, as he knows better than to rest on the laurels of one good game.
"I still thought my line did pretty well," Krejci said. "We had so many chances, we just couldn't bury them. That sometimes happens. It was a tough series for us but I think we bounced back and had a good game today, but one game doesn't make a playoff so we've got to keep it going."
