The Bruins welcomed their leader back to practice Tuesday morning.
Patrice Bergeron, wearing a full-participant white sweater, was on the ice at Warrior Ice Arena one day before Game 5 of Boston’s first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Florida Panthers. Bergeron occupied his typical first-line center slot along the Bruins’ practice lines, but he was not flanked by his usual linemates.
Here were the lines and defensive pairings Jim Montgomery deployed for Boston’s final practice before Wednesday night’s game at TD Garden, per The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.
Tyler Bertuzzi–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand–Charlie Coyle–Nick Foligno
Taylor Hall–Pavel Zacha–Jake DeBrusk
Jakub Lauko–Tomas Nosek–Garnet Hathaway
Trent Frederic–A.J. Greer
Matt Grzelcyk–Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm–Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort–Dmitry Orlov
Jakub Zboril–Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
Brandon Bussi
Bergeron also was on the Bruins’ top power-play unit, joined by Marchand, Pastrnak, Bertuzzi and McAvoy.
Of course, the alignment Montgomery used Tuesday morning isn’t the Bruins’ guaranteed lineup to start Game 5. However, the Boston head coach’s significant shuffling between Games 2 and 3 indicates he wouldn’t be afraid to utilize that new-look setup. It noticeably doesn’t feature Frederic, who played the first four games of the series and was one of four Bruins forwards to play in 79-plus games in the regular season.
Boston will punch a ticket to Round 2 of the postseason with a third straight win over Florida. NESN’s full coverage of Wednesday night’s game begins at 6 p.m. ET.
