Bruins Have Patrice Bergeron’s Back Amid Postseason Absence

The Bruins will navigate Games 3 and 4 without Patrice Bergeron, but Boston knows what it must do to achieve its goals.

Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters Friday that Bergeron did not travel with the team to Florida, but he likely might play in Game 5. The Bruins are expected to shake things up in Game 3 on Friday, which might include Jeremy Swayman in net. It also might include Matt Grzlecyk’s postseason debut — the defenseman has kept himself ready whenever he’s called upon.

“I’m sure it’s tough,” Grzelcyk told reporters, per team-provided video, on what Bergeron likely feels like missing the first four games of the best-of-seven series. “He’s obviously a big vocal leader for us, too. He’s always there for us no matter what. I think it’s our job to go out there and have his back. He’s had ours his whole career. We want to make sure we’re playing for him no matter what. Obviously, we’ll miss his presence. He’s still a huge part of it, like I said, vocally. We have a lot of leaders in this room. They can lead by example and pick up that, speaking up a little bit more. For sure it’s tough, but we got a job to do.”

The Bruins have not played up to the standards they set in the regular season, and Bergeron’s absence has played a part in that. Players like Brad Marchand, Nick Foligno, David Krejci and David Pastrnak have stepped up in the captain’s absence, and they hope to have control of the series when they go back to Boston.

“We obviously miss him for multiple reasons, so that’s kind of our job is to play to the best of our abilities so he can come back and play,” Frederic told reporters, per team-provided video.

Puck drop from FLA Live Arena is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN, including an hour of pregame coverage.