The Bruins weren’t able to close out their best-of-seven first-round series Wednesday and must travel back to Florida, but they will be bringing potential reinforcements with them.
Boston lost to the Panthers in overtime at TD Garden, which extended the series to a sixth game. The Black and Gold hold a 3-2 series lead, but Matthew Tkachuk made a bold declaration after his team’s win, which highlighted Florida’s confidence to make a comeback.
The B’s know what the task at hand is, and David Krejci might help the team close out the series at FLA Live Arena. The veteran center has been out since Game 2 after he was scratched just minutes before Game 3 due to an upper-body injury, but Jim Montgomery told reporters prior to Game 5 on Tuesday that Krejci “potentially” could return if the series went to a Game 6.
That scenario might become a reality, as the Bruins head coach told reporters Thursday that Krejci will be traveling with the team to Florida, according to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson and The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. Montgomery didn’t confirm the center’s status and said Krejci had “a couple more boxes to check,” per team video.
Krejci, who turns 37 on Friday, likely will center the second line with Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak, unless Montgomery opts to reunite the Czech line and have Pavel Zacha slot in for Bertuzzi.
Montgomery told reporters Trent Frederic is a “definite candidate” to play in Game 6 after being a healthy scratch in Game 5, according to Anderson. That would mean more rotation for the bottom-six forwards for the Bruins, and Zacha has provided the B’s enough flexibility to play in multiple spots in the lineup.
Boston has multiple options at its disposal, but the hope is the right combination can get the best out of stars like Pastrnak so the Bruins have a chance to close out the series. Puck drop for Game 6 at FLA Live Arena on Friday is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN, including an hour of pregame coverage.
