Much to the delight of their captain, the Bruins answered the bell Friday night in Florida.
After taking a punch to the mouth in their own building Wednesday, the B’s rebounded in a big way in their first road tilt of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. Playing without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, Boston earned a convincing 4-2 Game 3 win over the Panthers, who rode a fair amount of momentum into FLA Live Arena.
Bergeron did not travel with the team to the Sunshine State, but he was very dialed in as his team retook control of the best-of-seven series. The five-time Selke Trophy winner was actively texting Bruins assistant coach and former teammate Chris Kelly, and head coach Jim Montgomery pulled back the curtain on those messages Saturday.
“You could tell that he was pretty pumped up — like, of the way we were playing,” Montgomery told reporters, per a team-provided video. “That was the thing that was first and foremost that came up.”
Montgomery added: “You feel helpless. It’s like the first time you retire and become a coach. You don’t have any impact on the ice. It’s like, how do you help? One, he’s an incredibly bright mind for the game. The stuff that he shared, whether it was stuff on neutral zone or O zone or D zone, it was poignant.”
Boston’s bench boss confirmed Bergeron still is on track to return for Wednesday night’s Game 5 at TD Garden. As such, Sunday afternoon might be the last time Bergeron blows up Kelly’s phone during a game this postseason.
