BOSTON — When the Bruins opened the bench door to take the ice for pregame warmups ahead of Game 1 against the Florida Panthers on Monday night, Boston’s captain was nowhere to be found.
Patrice Bergeron, who exited early from last Thursday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with an upper-body injury and was also dealing with an illness, wasn’t spotted on the ice for the pregame session, indicating he won’t play. Bergeron didn’t participate in any of Boston’s practice leading up to the contest, either.
While that’s tough news for the Bruins to open up the playoffs, they did receive a positive outcome with Linus Ullmark leading the team onto the ice. He’ll get the start in net. The Panthers decided to give Alex Lyon the start between the pipes for Game 1.
With Bergeron out, Pavel Zacha will most likely slide into the center role on the Bruins’ top line alongside Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand. Even without the experienced leadership and talent of Bergeron, the Bruins still felt confident heading into the showdown with the Panthers. The Bruins are 4-0-0 in games this season without Bergeron, according to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson.
Nick Foligno was on the ice for warmups as he’ll most likely the left wing spot on the fourth line with A.J. Greer being the odd-man out. Derek Forbort, as head coach Jim Montgomery said, is in the lineup in place of Matt Grzelcyk.
