BOSTON — The Bruins are under no illusions about what they will be missing when they start the Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay without Patrice Bergeron.
Bergeron was Boston's leading scorer in the playoffs before being sidelined indefinitely with a concussion. He also led the Bruins in hits and faceoff percentage as was their top defensive forward and a key penalty killer.
No one will be able to replace Bergeron's contributions in all those areas, but Bergeron's linemates are confident their unit will maintain its effectiveness in all three zones with Chris Kelly stepping into Bergeron's spot between Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi.
"It doesn't change anything on our line," Recchi said of the unit, which combined for nine goals and 30 points in 11 games this postseason. "Chris is a very smart player, a two-way player like Bergy is. Obviously, Bergy is better offensively and his numbers have shown that over the years. But at the same time, [Kelly's] two-way [play] is very similar. He's very well positioned like Bergy is. It'll be an easy adjustment."
The new linemates got some time together in the third period of Game 4 against the Flyers when Kelly moved up to that line after Bergeron was injured, and they've been working together in practice since.
"I think we're coming along," Marchand said. "You obviously have a little feeling-out period when you have a new linemate, but for the most part Bergy and Kells play the same style. They both work really hard. They're both good defensively. And Kells is having a great playoff run so far, so I think he's going to fit in well with us."
Kelly has always been known more for his defense, working mostly on a checking line in Ottawa with agitator Jarkko Ruutu and tough guy Chris Neil. But he filled in on scoring lines several times with the Senators, and he's shown a surprising scoring touch in his first postseason in Boston with 4-3-7 totals and a plus-7 rating through 11 games.
"He's a very good skater," Marchand said of Kelly. "He works very hard. He never gives up. He's got a lot of skill, actually. He's scored some big goals for us this playoffs. He's very strong on the puck down low and he doesn't try to get out of his element. He plays within his game. He's a good player. Every guy who I've ever heard that's played with him loves playing with him, and I'm expecting the same."
Bruins coach Claude Julien has options if that combination doesn't work out, with Rich Peverley and Gregory Campbell capable of moving up to that line. Julien doesn't expect that to be necessary though, as he is also confident of Kelly's ability to serve as Bergeron's replacement for as long as necessary.
"I think right now, we feel pretty comfortable with what we've got," Julien said. "I don't think we're looking for miracles right off the bat, but we need guys who work through it. And there's no reason why we can't work through it.
"The guy that we've put there right now in Bergy's spot is a guy who, I guess offensively, has put up some decent numbers, and defensively he's been a very good player his whole career," Julien added of Kelly. "So to us, he's been a good two-way player, and we've kind of replaced Bergy with something similar to him. And we feel comfortable with that working out."
