Zacha readies for first line, should captain be absent
Pavel Zacha will be the center of attention on the Bruins’ No. 1 line for the start of the playoffs Monday if Patrice Bergeron needs a night on the sidelines.
Zacha set career highs in goals (21), assists (36), and points (57) this season, playing most of the year at left wing on an all-Czech line with center David Krejci and all-world right winger David Pastrnak (61 goals).
Zacha, 26, assumed Bergeron’s pivot spot between Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk during Sunday’s workout in Brighton. Man-for-all-occasions Tyler Bertuzzi popped into Zacha’s vacated spot on the Krejci line.
Bertuzzi, one of GM Don Sweeney’s deadline acquisitions, has been effective up and down the lineup, with coach Jim Montgomery utilizing the 28year-old left-shot forward at either wing. During Sunday’s workout, the coach also had Bertuzzi at net front on the second power-play unit.
“The greasy goals that everyone describes are part of Tyler’s DNA,” said Sweeney, who surrendered two draft picks (including a first-rounder in ’24) to acquire Bertuzzi from the Red Wings. “His playmaking ability and vision in the offensive zone have really bubbled up on our hockey club. Overall, his playmaking ability and his vision of the ice were probably a little understated. We felt that he could be moved around in a bunch of different roles.”
If Bergeron makes it back into the lineup, Montgomery likely will return Zacha to the Krejci line, thus shifting Bertuzzi to right wing No. 3 alongside Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle.
Swayman out sick
Jeremy Swayman, in net for the season-ender Thursday in Montreal, was ill and did not participate in the half-hour workout at Warrior. Revere’s own Keith Sagee, long ago a goalie at Salem State, willingly took the beatdown in the net opposite Linus Ullmark. Ullmark, 0-2 (.860 save percentage, 4.16 goals against) last season in his only career playoff work, will start Game 1 . . . Matt Grzelcyk and Jakub Zboril teamed up in practice as the reserve pair of defensemen for the start of the series. Montgomery paired Dmitry Orlov with Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm with Brandon Carlo, and Derek Forbort with Connor Clifton ... Panthers coach Paul Maurice gave Aleksander Barkov the day off, noting he wanted the veteran pivot, who posted 78 points in 68 games, to get some added rest before the start of a long playoff haul . . . The Panthers won the only postseason matchup between the franchises, ousting the Bruins in five games in 1996. Florida then rubbed out the Flyers and Penguins on a march to the Cup Final, where it was swept by the Avalanche.
The Panthers didn’t win another playoff series until last spring, when they beat the Capitals in Round 1. The Bruins bottomed out the following season, leading to their selection of Joe Thornton as the top pick in the ’97 Draft . . . Left winger Matthew Tkachuk led the Panthers with a career-best 109 points. Only three NHLers — Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Tkachuk — reached the 100point plateau each of the last two seasons.