Having coached teams that long held the records for the most points and wins in an NHL season, Scotty Bowman knows the only concern for the Boston Bruins was what happened when they hit a rough patch.

“When you get adversity,” Bowman said, “it kind of gets your attention.”

After breaking the points and wins records and losing just 12 of 82 games in the regular season, the Bruins are finally facing adversity. They no longer look unbeatable after losing 6-3 to the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of their first-round series, and go on the road to Florida looking to get their mojo back.

Boston’s most immediate question is what changes will come. Might captain Patrice Bergeron miss a third consecutive game? Will Jeremy Swayman replace Linus Ullmark in net? How about on defense after allowing six goals for just the second time all year?

“We’re going to look at every option,” Coach Jim Montgomery said.

Panthers goalie Alex Lyon knows that even though Florida stole home-ice advantage, there’s no reason to further poke the bear right now.

“They are a very talented opponent,” Lyon said after stopping 34 shots Wednesday for his first career NHL playoff win. “I don’t even want to say anything. They’re so good.”

That they are. Among the many ridiculous stats put up by the Bruins in the best regular season in NHL history: They were 14-2-1 after a loss.

“We knew it was going to be a hard series – definitely not one we expected to walk through,” Bruins winger Brad Marchand said. “We move on. We’ll forget about this one now and start regrouping and see where we can improve.”

Florida knows what’s coming. Boston seems primed to bring its best in Game 3.

“We can’t take our foot off the gas,” Lyon said. “It’s just going to continue to get harder from here on out.”

BRUINS COACH Jim Montgomery said he hadn’t spoken to the team’s medical staff when he met with the media on Thursday morning, so he didn’t know whether Patrice Bergeron would be on the plane when the team headed south later in the day.

The Bruins didn’t practice on Thursday, but Bergeron skated on his own before Montgomery’s availability. He did the same thing prior to Wednesday’s pregame skate.

Montgomery’s default tone is usually optimism, which held true here.

“He skated just now. That’s obviously a real positive sign,” Montgomery said. “I haven’t talked to medical and athletic trainers about where he’s at as far as coming with us on the trip.”

Bergeron left the final regular-season game in Montreal because of an undisclosed upper-body injury. The Bruins originally said Bergeron didn’t finish that game as a precautionary measure, but he hasn’t returned to team participation since.

Montgomery said Bergeron is still in good spirits.

“That’s a human being that doesn’t get rattled. He’s holding up great,” Montgomery said. “His confidence gives energy to everybody else. That’s the way he carries himself. He’s in real good spirits. He just wishes he could be out there with us.”

STARS: Dallas center Joe Pavelski didn’t travel with the team to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4 of the first-round playoff series against the Wild, as he remains in concussion protocol from a crushing hit in the opener.

Coach Pete DeBoer said before the Stars left for Minnesota that he has “lots of hope” that Pavelski can return at some point during the series.

“He’s getting better every day,” DeBoer said. “He was at the game (Wednesday) night, just not coming on this trip.”

After Game 3 on Friday night and Game 4 on Sunday, the best-of-seven series that is now tied at 1-1 will return to Dallas for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Tennis: Teams to watch in southern Maine

Next »

Thursday’s high school roundup: Wells quiets Greely in baseball opener