Toucher & Rich With Billy Jaffe: Is David Krejci Injured?
BOSTON (CBS) - When the Bruins have been at their best in recent postseasons, first line center David Krejci has been the engine driving the offense -- not so much in 2014.
The 28-year-old Czech is still without a goal in the playoffs, and 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich are curious to know if he's playing through an injury we don't know about.
NESN analyst Billy Jaffe phoned into the show Friday morning to not only answer that very question, but to provide a recap of the Bruins' huge Game 4 overtime win in Montreal.
On Krejci having a potential injury, Jaffe says it's a fair question to ask.
"You have to think about [injury]. You do. But he still played about 20 minutes last night. He had an arm/hand/shoulder injury, and a few people have suggested to me if he was injured he wouldn't be taking so many faceoffs -- he still took 18 faceoffs [in Game 4] and he won 10 of them.
"I've thought about it. Of course he may be injured, but nobody knows. The last three or four shifts of the game he handled his line, played better on defense and started handling the puck more -- and we needed to see more of that.
"I'm gonna give the stock answer: everybody is banged up right now, we just don't know how much everybody is banged up. He looked so much better the last few shifts of the game I said, 'There's the Krejci line!' said Billy Jaffe.
So if not injury, then what is plaguing Krejci? Jaffe says it could be a number of things.
"The line is just not finishing. He needs to handle the puck even more. For this first line to flourish he needs to handle it. Tomas Plekanec of the Canadiens has done a nice job against him. The Plekanec line is doing its job against the Krejci line.
"[Milan] Lucic and [Jarome] Iginla need to get in on the forecheck. Now, they were both more physical last night, not just credited with hits, but they were involved in the play. The team in general was more physical. Those are the guys that start it. If you can get Iginla and Lucic going physically with Krejci handling the puck better things will improve," said Jaffe.
Listen below for the full discussion and more Game 4 analysis:
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