Bruins playoff notebook: Krejci travels to Florida; more potential lineup changes ahead

BEDFORD, Mass.  – The Bruins held media availability at Hanscom Field ahead of the team charter back to Florida for Game 6, which will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.

Here's what you need to know:

• David Krejci will travel with the team but remains a question mark, per Jim Montgomery. "Krejci's traveling with us, and he's got a couple more boxes to check before we can call him a player," he said.
• After firing up the proverbial lineup blender before and during Game 5, the Bruins may have it whirring again in Game 6, but it's too soon to get into the specifics, Montgomery said. "Haven't had enough time. I reviewed the game this morning at Warrior and haven't sat down with the staff yet. We'll do that on the plane."
• Among the changes, Trent Frederic could draw back into the lineup for Game 6. Montgomery said, "He's definitely a candidate to go back in. The reason that he drew out was just my gut feeling."
• Montgomery left the door open to potentially go with Jeremy Swayman in net: "We're going to evaluate everything again. I have complete confidence in [Linus] Ullmark, and if we decide to go with Sway, I have complete confidence in him. The luck we have is we have players at every position who can go in and get the job done."

BSJ Analysis...

On Krejci and the lineup

Krejci wasn't at his best when he was in the lineup in Games 1 and 2. In fact, he was one of Boston's worst skaters at 5-on-5. 

Still, he would be a welcomed addition for the Bruins, especially in terms of settling the lines and possibly helping David Pastrnak get going. 

Pastrnak, who said he isn't frustrated, doesn't feel all the recent lineup mixing has impacted his ability to find a rhythm.

"I have no problem moving around," he said. "I'm fine with adjusting to different linemates. At the same time, we've had different players in and out of the lineup all year long. It's nothing new. Obviously, we had a lot of injuries during the year. So, I've pretty much played with everybody."

Krejci was a late scratch after taking warmup ahead of Game 3 before missing the last two games. No. 46 resumed skating on his own at Warrior Ice Arena this week.

With the two Davids together during the regular season, the Bruins had a 46-23 scoring advantage over opponents and a 21-13 edge in high-danger goals in 721:03 of 5-on-5 time together, according to Natural Stat Trick. Pastrnak was largely just as effective in 464:46 of 5-on-5 play without Krejci, as Boston had a 27-18 scoring differential with just a 13-11 edge in high-danger goals. The B's had just a 12-11 edge in goals and were behind in high-danger goals, 6-5, with Krejci on for 220:01 without Pastrnak. 

It would make sense to go back to the Czech line with Pavel Zacha, who has dipped slightly as well of late after a strong start to the series. In 445:22 off 5-on-5 time with that trio on the ice, the Bruins outscored opponents, 34-14 (17-9 high-danger). Boston had a solid on-ice shooting percentage of 15.45 and Bruins goaltenders had a .939 save percentage with them on the ice, too.

In terms of other lineup changes, there's always the possibility of going with the kill switch and reuniting the so-called "Perfection line" with Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Although, that could take away from the depth that has helped set the Bruins apart.

One duo that will likely be sticking together is Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle, who have been arguably the Bruins' best skaters for most of the series. After Montgomery put them with Garnet Hathaway to start the second period, Hall and Coyle got back to their strong puck possession game at 5-on-5, eventually taking over the third period with Hall's clutch equalizer before he gave Coyle a chance to give the Bruins the lead. With Hall and Coyle together for 9:22 in Game 5, the Bruins outshot Florida 7-3 in addition to a 7-5 advantage in high-danger chances.

As for Frederic, he's in a tough spot as one of the skaters on the fringes of the lineup, even after a career-high 17 goals and 31 points in the regular season. He was getting chances in the first two games of the series but failed to capitalize before eventually going relatively quiet in Game 4. In the four games he's played, he has seven shots, 11 attempts, seven individual scoring chances (four high-danger) and eight hits. 

Frederic, who made a formidable line with Hall and Coyle during the regular season, has responded well coming off of healthy scratches earlier this season and at the end of last season. If he's in for Game 6, he could very well provide a spark.

On Ullmark and Swayman

Everyone will talk about the miscue with Matt Grzlecyk in overtime, but stuff happens. Putting that aside, it was still a relatively pedestrian night for Ullmark in Game 5, allowing two medium-danger goals and putting up a minus-1.85 goals-saved above expected.

As I've mentioned a few times, it's not a bad idea to get Swayman some action since the Bruins may or may not need him at some point in the playoffs if they make a run, whether it be due to rest for Ullmark, health or a drop in performance. 

Ullmark seemed to be dealing with something in the early part of the series, looking sluggish between whistles and at times during the play. Still, even when the door appeared to be wide open for the Bruins to turn to Swayman in Game 4, Ullmark still started and played well. 

It might be tough to go away from Ullmark at this point, though, considering how well he played in Games 3 and 4 in response to the Game 2 loss. He had a .946 save percentage in the two games in Florida, giving up four goals compared to his 7.19 (plus-3.19) expected goals against. All four of the goals he surrendered were on high-danger shots, too (18-for-22). 

When asked if Ullmark has given the team what it has wanted in the series, Montgomery was quick to say yes, "Goaltending has been an edge for us."

Swayman's only game action in the last 14 days was 3:10 of play at the end of Game 4 when Ullmark exited after the incident with Matthew Tkachuk, but Montgomery said Wednesday that it doesn't become a problem to get Swayman into a game the longer he goes without action.

Other notes...

Tough breaks for Lauko

Game 5 was one that Jakub Lauko would probably like to forget after the energetic winger took a pair of penalties. The first came in the second period when he took a slashing minor on Carter Verhaeghe and the second was – incredibly – labeled hooking on Tkachuk on the face-off immediately following Patrice Bergeron's third-period equalizer. Florida scored on the ensuing advantage to retake the lead.

The B's want him to have a short memory.

"I just told him that, 'You know, Lauks, that's a tough call,'" Montgomery said. "I thought it was two people fighting for a loose puck. So I said, 'Just pick your head up and be ready to go for us. Cause you're going back out there.'"

Neither call was particularly strong. The first came on one-handed stickwork around Verhaeghe's hands that didn't really impede his ability to get a shot away. In the third, he and Tkachuk simply got tied up in a battle. 

"He knows that he's been a really big part of our team, too, with the energy he brings," Foligno said. "That's a tough one. I don't even know if that's really called a lot of times, but he can't hang his head. He's been a really good energy player for us, a kid that's stepped in, is a great teammate and a guy that's added something every time he's in the lineup."

It's been a tough series, overall, for Lauko, who has averaged the least time on ice (6:51) of any Bruins skater. Game 5 was the first of his three games in which he has topped seven minutes (7:32). Someone who can draw his fair share of penalties, Lauko hasn't been able to so far in three games. He has just two shot attempts and one individual scoring chance to his name. After an energetic debut in Game 3 with five hits in just 6:22 of ice time in his limited fourth-line role, he had one in each of the next two contests. It's been an adjustment for the youngster.

"That's the ebbs and flows of playoff hockey," Foligno said. "There are nights when it doesn't feel like it's bouncing. The way he acts and the way he handles things, I'm sure he'll bounce back. We have full confidence in everybody to play that way."

McAvoy is a "horse"

Charlie McAvoy led all Bruins skaters with 30:55 of ice time in Game 5. He was third on the team in hits (four) and tied for the lead in blocked shots (three) on top of notching two assists. McAvoy had seven shots, nine attempts and two individual scoring chances as well. He leads all skaters in the series with 29 hits, six clear of Radko Gudas. 

It was the fifth-highest minutes total of McAvoy's playoff career with the most coming when he logged 36:39 in Boston's season-ending defeat in Game 5 of the second round against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 bubble.

"He's a horse back there, and he doesn't need a lot of rest," Montgomery said. "20 seconds on the bench, and he's like a Clydesdale. You open the barn door and let him run. 

"I thought he was very impactful. He was around the puck, making plays and doing real good things for us last night."