Jim Montgomery broke up Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand at Tuesday's practice
BOSTON -- Patrice Bergeron was back at practice alongside his Bruins teammates on Tuesday. He was not, however, alongside his long-running linemate in Brad Marchand.
It was a bit of a surprise considering Bergeron and Marchand have been linemates for just about forever. They've been together so long they can probably finish each other's sentences without much thought.
But Jim Montgomery jumbled things up a bit on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday night's potential series-clinching Game 5 against the Florida Panthers. Bergeron was centering Boston's first line, but he had David Pastrnak and Tyler Bertuzzi as his wings. Marchand was down on Boston's third line, centered by Charlie Coyle with Nick Foligno on the other wing.
Pavel Zacha centered Taylor Hall and Jake DeBrusk on Boston's second line on Tuesday, with Tomas Nosek centering Jakub Lauko and Garnet Hathaway on the fourth line.
Head coach Jim Montgomery explained Tuesday's lines as his way of getting a look at something different; he's already very familiar with what Bergeron and Marchand can do together. Bergeron, for his part, said he'd be happy playing alongside whomever Montgomery wants him to be paired with.
"I've said it many times, I have so much respect and so much chemistry with Brad. But that being said, I can play with anyone," said Bergeron. "I want to play with anyone. I think the guys have so much talent. Whoever is on my left side or my right side, on this team it doesn't really matter.
"The depth is there, and you have to do your job," he continued. "That's what it's all about. It's about bringing what you can bring to the table no matter who's alongside you."
Bergeron is one of those unique players who can pretty much play with anybody. He's not going to disrupt anything, and will likely make anyone lining up next to him better.
Pastrnak and Bertuzzi have found some chemistry together so far this series, but that was when they were centered by Zacha. But that duo is somewhat defensively deficient, so it makes sense that Bergeron would be added to that mix.
Zacha finished Game 4 with Hall and DeBrusk, and the trio was together when they scored Boston's fourth goal that afternoon.
Montgomery didn't say whether Tuesday's lines would be the lines that we see when the puck drops on Game 5. We'll have to wait until just before game time on Wednesday night to see if Tuesday's experiment was more than just an experiment for the Bruins.