The Boston Bruins are on the brink of elimination in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It's honestly a little shocking that this is the situation the team finds itself in after setting the NHL records for wins and points during the regular season.
Given what's at stake and how different the roster could look this summer, Sunday's Game 7 against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden is easily one of the most important moments in the franchise's recent history.
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Bruins-Panthers takeaways: Turnovers plague B's as Panthers force Game 7
Winning is the only thing that matters. This is no time to reward players for past performance. Experience is important, but the players who give the Bruins the best chance to win must play. It's as simple as that.
So, what lineup changes could the Bruins make for Game 7? Here are three that head coach Jim Montgomery needs to look at.
Put Matt Grzelcyk on the first pairing
Taking out Matt Grzelcyk and inserting Connor Clifton back into the lineup for Game 6 was arguably the worst decision Montgomery has made in Round 1 so far. Grzelcyk's excellent skating, his ability to break out of the defensive zone quickly and accurately, and his playmaking skill in the attacking zone were all missing in the Game 6 defeat.
Clifton had the worst game of his career. A first-period turnover in the middle of the ice led to a 2-on-1 Panthers rush and a Matthew Tkachuk goal.
He also made a bad pass trying to clear the zone late in the third period despite the lack of heavy forechecking pressure from the Panthers. The mistake ended up in the Bruins' net and resulted in the winning goal for Florida.
The Panthers had a 20-10 edge in shot attempts, a 12-3 lead in scoring chances, a 6-1 advantage in high-danger chances and a 3-0 goal differential during the 12:49 of ice time that Clifton played at 5-on-5 Friday night, per Natural Stat Trick.
Reuniting Grzelcyk and McAvoy on the first pairing, which has worked wonders for multiple years, is the right choice.
Basically, returning to the defense pairings from Game 3 and Game 4 is the best course of action here.
Matt Grzelcyk--Charlie McAvoy
Boston Bruins
Hampus Lindholm--Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort--Dmitry Orlov
Insert Trent Frederic into a bottom-six role
Frederic set career highs with 16 goals and 14 assists this season. He has been a much different, and better, offensive player in Montgomery's system. He's also cut down on the bad penalties. He's much improved at playing physical and not crossing the line. There's no doubt he should be back in the lineup for Game 7. Removing him from the lineup in Game 5 and Game 6 was a mistake.
Not only could Frederic provide some scoring depth, he'll help the Bruins set a physical tone right away and get the crowd involved. You can imagine Frederic bulldozing a Panthers player on his first shift and giving his teammates even more energy.
Whether it's David Krejci (more on that below) or Nick Foligno who comes out, Frederic has to be in. You can't have an energetic, young, tough player who finished sixth on the team in goals scored not playing in a Game 7.
Remove David Krejci from the lineup
This is a tough one.
Krejci is one of the best Bruins players of this generation. He won a Stanley Cup in 2011. He led the entire playoffs in scoring in 2011 and 2013. He has 159 games of playoff experience, including 13 Game 7s. Krejci's 125 postseason points are the seventh-most among all players since his playoff debut in 2008.
The problem here is Krejci has played poorly in this series. He missed the last six games of the regular season due to injury. He returned for Game 1 and Game 2 and didn't make much of an impact (one assist and four shots). Krejci missed the next three games due to an upper body injury before returning for Game 6. In a 7-5 game that featured plenty of offense, Krejci was held without a point and failed to register a single shot on net. He also went 1-for-6 on faceoffs in Game 6, and he's won just 16 of 41 draws in this series.
The Bruins have shown they can win without him in the lineup. He missed Games 3 and 4 in Florida and those were Boston's best performances of the series. A foursome of Patrice Bergeron, Pavel Zacha, Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek at center is good enough to beat any opponent.
Removing Krejci from the lineup would be a gutsy decision by Montgomery, especially if the veteran center is healthy enough to play. But it also would be the right choice.
Start Jeremy Swayman in net
This would be a bold move, too. Linus Ullmark will almost certainly win the Vezina Trophy, and you could easily make the argument that he deserves to play in the most important game of the season. Backup netminder Jeremy Swayman hasn't started a game since April 13 -- the regular season finale in Montreal.
Why Bruins should start Swayman in must-win Game 7 vs. Panthers
But the last two games were two of Ullmark's worst performances of the season. Sure, the team didn't do him any favors with some brutal turnovers that gave the Panthers prime scoring chances. But sometimes you need your goalie to bail out these kinds of mistakes, and Ullmark had done that most of the season until this series. In six games, Ullmark has a 3-3 record with a .896 save percentage and a 3.34 GAA. But perhaps more importantly, Ullmark doesn't look fully healthy. His athleticism and movement does not look super crisp. His puck handling, especially in overtime of Game 5, also has been subpar.
Swayman played excellent in the regular season, posting a .920 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA. His .862 save percentage on high-danger chances was the second-best among all goalies who played in 25 or more games. He's fully capable of going into the lineup cold and winning Game 7. He's not only super talented, he's also healthy and well-rested. It wouldn't be shocking if Ullmark starts Sunday, but Swayman probably gives the Bruins a slightly better chance to emerge victorious.