Krejci questionable for Bruins in Game 4; will we see Swayman?

The Bruins were scheduled to practice at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, Fla. following Friday's night's critical 4-2 win in Game 3 over Florida to retake the series lead (2-1). Instead, Jim Montgomery met with reporters at the B's hotel.

Here's what you need to know:

• Montgomery said that David Krejci is still "questionable" for Sunday's Game 4. The center did not skate Saturday.

"There's no real update," Montgomery told reporters.

• There is consideration to go with Jeremy Swayman between the pipes on Sunday. Ullmark was a game-time decision for Game 3 before making 29 saves.

"Yeah, there are thoughts with going with Jeremy," Montgomery said. "Just because 1. Jeremy's excellent. And 2. After tomorrow's game, there are three days between the next one. They've gone to the rink, and when they get back, I'll huddle with Goalie Bob [Essenza], and he'll let me know."

• In lieu of a full practice, a smattering of Bruins hit the ice on Saturday – bottom six forwards and six of eight defensemen.

"Some guys have bumps and bruises, and they're just better off getting treatment here at the hotel where we have better facilities to do that ... It's better for our athletic trainers," Montgomery said. "Then there are other players that need to get on the ice."

He added, that "pretty much everybody" skated today, except for six to eight guys.

"The Frederic line, the Nosek line and I believe ... six of eight D are skating," Montgomery said. "Two goalies are skating."

BSJ Analysis...

In addition to Patrice Bergeron, Krejci became the latest veteran to go down when the B's announced he'd be a late scratch due to an upper-body injury minutes before puck-drop.

"I'd say it's 50-50 [for Game 4]," Montgomery said postgame of his second-line center. "But we knew there was a good chance he wasn't going to play [Game 3]."

Krejci had an up-and-down first two games at the Garden. Game 1 was his first action in 16 days after he had an assist at Pittsburgh on April 1. He looked strong offensively to start the series opener, landing the shot on net that led to Tyler Bertuzzi deftly bumping the rebound over to David Pastrnak to get it started. He later set up Bertuzzi on an odd-man rush, which Alex Lyon saved, and wasn't shy about engaging in puck battles.

Even in a solid Game 1 that saw him notch an assist, he was still one of Boston's more ineffective skaters at 5-on-5 play. Florida had advantages in shots (13-5), shot attempts (25-12), scoring chances (12-5) and high-danger opportunities (5-3). As a line complete line, he, Bertuzzi, and Pastrnak bled chances in 13:45 of 5-on-5 time together. The Panthers maintained their distinct advantages in attempts (19-11), shots (12-4), scoring chances (7-4) and high-danger looks (4-2). 

It didn't get any better in Game 2 as No. 46 went a minus-3 in the 6-3 loss. He was again the B's weakest players at 5-on-5. Attempts went 16-6 for Florida, shots 11-4, chances 9-3 and high-danger looks 4-1. In 8:01 together in that situation, the Cats out-attempted the second line 12-3, outshot 9-2 and out-chanced 7-2 (4-0 high-danger). 

As the first two games wore on, Krejci seemed a step behind the play and out of sync, overall. 

Perhaps the upper-body issue is something that came to the surface early in the series, as Krejci had missed the final six games of the season with a lower-body ailment. Still, Montgomery and Krejci were both confident he would be ready for the playoffs leading up to this series. Either way, it's cause for concern with another key veteran. 

In Krejci's Game 3 absence, Charlie Coyle stepped up in a pivotal way for Boston with an extremely active night around the net in the offensive zone, capitalizing on a tip-in in front off of terrific body-positioning. 

Nick Foligno, who would have been scratched had Krejci played, had an energetic outing as well, providing big insurance in the third.

"I've played long enough ... It's an emotional rollercoaster. Obviously, this time of year, you want to play," Foligno said postgame. "You don't want Krech to be out, but when I got told to play, you've got to be ready. This is an opportunity. I owe it to these guys, just like I'd expect any of these guys to be ready to play at any moment. It's no different than how I'd prepare any other day. 

"Just fortunate that we got the win and to be a part of that. Hopefully, it gives us a lot of momentum going forward."

It was Foligno's best game of the three since returning from a lower-body injury. The Bruins had 76.47 percent of shot attempts (13-4) and 85.71 percent of shots (6-1) with Foligno on for 10:31 of 5-on-5 action. They outscored the Cats 2-0 and out-chanced them 4-2 (2-1 high-danger). His line with Taylor Hall and Trent Frederic was extremely effective at 5-on-5, especially him and Hall. 

Foligno was everywhere in the offensive zone. His slick goal came on a drive to the net on the rush. He landed created shots on the perimeter, too, and threw his body around along the boards (four hits, third-most on the team).

"The thing about Nick is he's gotten better every game here. Unfortunately, he had that injury that kept him out for a long time," Montgomery said. "Now, tonight, we really saw him start to get to his game, the game that was helping our team.

"It's funny because we knew Krech [was questionable], and I'm like, 'Hey, I don't know what's going on, but I know the hockey gods will be on your side.' Then, he got in the lineup and he scores.

"Good for him because he's an unreal human and an unreal teammate."

On Ullmark and Swayman

I mentioned Friday that returning to a tandem operation with Ullmark and Swayman could serve the Bruins well. It doesn't even need to be a complete 50-50 split of games.

Ullmark put forth a season more than worthy of the Vezina Trophy in 49 appearances, by far a career-high. Part of his success was the Bruins optimizing his and Swayman's workloads to keep them as fresh and sharp as possible. Meanwhile, after inconsistency and injury to start the season, Swayman turned it on around the holidays and was among the league's best netminders by the end of the season as well.

Ullmark was hardly to blame for Boston's issues in Game 2, but still bounced back in a strong Game 3 outing with 29 saves and 10 of 12 high-danger chances turned aside. He outperformed his 3.41 expected goals-against, too.

It all came after a report that Ullmark was "pretty sick" in Game 1, his overall dip in Game 2 and his being labeled a game-time decision after not participating in Game 3's morning skate. 

Friday was also just the fourth time this season he had gone at least three games in a row. 

Whether he's dealing with something or the Bruins just want to continue to optimize him, it's worth thinking about Swayman for Game 4, like Montgomery said. He said Saturday there are variables at play when considering a tandem approach in the playoffs. 

"I think it all depends on how the guy's playing, who's in the net – where they're at mentally and physically," Montgomery said. "We've got to see where Linus is at. We thought Linus had a good game. We didn't think he was overly taxed last night, as far as the amount of time we had to spend in our own end, which is where the goalies work."