Krejci Shines in Bruins' Game 1 Victory

BostonBruins.com - The Bruins have long been built around their one-two punch down the middle of the ice. For well over a decade, Boston has relied heavily on Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci being the driving forces behind a well-rounded forward group.

Their two-way strength and veteran savvy make them two of the most well-respected pivots in the game. And on Wednesday afternoon, that prowess was on full display.

While Bergeron garnered the headlines after his record-setting, double-overtime winner, Krejci had his own standout showing in the B's 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of their first-round series.

The 34-year-old centerman, who twice has led the NHL in postseason scoring, paced a strong effort by the Bruins' second line, burying his first goal of the playoffs, while setting up linemates Jake DeBrusk and Ondrej Kase for a host of Grade A opportunities.

"I'm going to guess it's going to be a high-end game for them tonight," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, referring to the team's postgame analytics report. "If they can do that every night, we're going to be a very dangerous hockey club…I thought Jake from the first shift on, second effort. Krech was going, good in the circle, solid, solid with the puck and away from the puck to get it back. That's the formula we'd like, I'm not going to lie to you. I'd love to replicate that every night with those guys."

Krejci gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead just 59 seconds into the third period when he took a feed from Kase and patiently dangled around Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek from the top of the crease. The tally gave the Czech native 105 career postseason points, which ranks 1 behind Bergeron for second place on the Bruins' all-time list.

"It's one of those things…I got the puck in the slot, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. Lucky it went in, it was a good goal for our team, gave us some confidence," said Krejci. "But at the same time, we have another game [on Thursday]. Playoff momentum changes pretty quickly. Like they always say, never too high, never too low, correct some mistakes, look at some positives, improve on those and move on."

There was certainly plenty to like. In addition to Krejci's marker, DeBrusk rang a one-timer off the post and had another point-blank chance from the doorstep that missed wide. Kase, meanwhile, was playing his first real playoff game in Black & Gold and was one of the best players on the ice, landing five shots on goal with an assist and three blocks in 22:05 of ice time.

"I thought he was fantastic," said Cassidy. "He's on pucks all night, played his game. Had some good looks. A nice play on Krejci's goal…they're probably our most dangerous line tonight. So that is something that we talked about - secondary scoring…Kase took a few hits and he bounced back. Really what I liked was the second effort on the pucks. That makes any team hard to play against. That's what happened with that line tonight. And they were - I guess if you ask Carolina - they were hard to play against."

Kase played just six regular-season games with the Bruins after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks just before the trade deadline, leaving little time before the NHL's pause to develop much comfortability in the B's system. The 24-year-old then missed all of training camp after returning from Europe for the NHL's restart, though it certainly didn't look that way on Wednesday.

"I was really impressed by his game, this game and last game," said Charlie Coyle. "It's been a difficult situation for him coming in late around the trade deadline, and then with the pandemic he didn't have too much time getting adjusted to our systems and the way that we play. And also missing the training camp before the playoffs. I think he's done a really good job adjusting and just playing his game. I thought he was really good today and looking forward to what he can bring."

Postseason Push

In his first postseason in Black & Gold, Coyle sparkled with a stellar performance throughout the Bruins' run to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, notching 9 goals (tied for the team lead) and 16 points in 24 games. On Wednesday, the Weymouth native picked up right where he left off last June when he gave Boston its first (albeit brief) lead of the re-start with a goal at 4:38 of the second period.

The tally - which was confirmed after video review - was one of the lone highlights for the B's third line, which also included Nick Ritchie and Anders Bjork, but Coyle is hoping it can act as a building block for the trio moving forward.

"It's going to come as we play more and more. It's just talk is so huge," Coyle said of their chemistry. "There's a few times where if one of those guys are down low or coming back into the D zone, either I yell to them to stay low or whatever the case is and we play by that. If we can make a switch and I can get down there when the time is right, then we do that.

"But there's some stuff we've got to work on and work out. We'll definitely watch some video of today's game, that's a crucial area we want to be better at. That's going to come with more practice time, or I guess tomorrow back at it, so we'll adjust accordingly there."

Building Blocks

Joakim Nordstrom may not have been the flashiest player on the ice Wednesday, but he just might have been the most noticeable. Boston's pesky fourth-line winger doubled as a brick wall during Boston's double-overtime victory, blocking five shots and delivering three hits in 15:29 of ice time.

"I think we've all got to find ways to contribute to help our team win," said Nordstrom. "I was put in those situations today where I had to lay the body in between. I'm happy to do it and we all were on the team."

Fellow fourth liner Chris Wagner, who is leading the Bruins with two goals since the restart, had another strong outing, landing five shots on goal and four hits in 17:12.

Running It Back?

The Bruins have not played a back-to-back in the postseason since 2013, so Thursday's Game 2 presents a decision for Cassidy, especially on the heels of Wednesday's double-overtime thriller. Boston's bench boss must determine whether to run it back with Tuukka Rask (25 saves on 28 shots in Game 1) or turn to Jaroslav Halak, who is likely to see time at some point during the playoffs given the unusual nature of this year's tournament.

"We didn't get stuck a lot in our end. That is a big factor on the recovery of Tuukka," said Cassidy. "An [11] o'clock start…[travel] won't be the case in this particular back-to-back. Everyone should sleep well tonight, get some rest. So, there is that consideration, too. You have two things that can tilt towards Tuukka getting a back-to-back start.

"I'm not saying that is going to happen, because the conversation needs to be had with him and goalie [coach] Bob [Essensa]. And if we feel Jaro gives us the best chance to win, we'll certainly go that route."