Krejci/By S. Bradley
TAMPA — It could’ve been any player on Tampa Bay that Bruins center David Krejci decked in front of the Lightning net after a whistle late in the first period Monday night.
That it was defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, however, was a fortunate turn of circumstance for Krejci.
It was Bergeron that leveled Krejci with a shoulder to the upper body during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final, which continues tonight with the Bruins looking for the kill in Game 6 at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Krejci was sore after the hit and missed a few shifts. He avoided a more serious injury on the play.
After Lightning goaltender Mike Smith made a glove save late in the opening stanza of the Bruins’ Game 5 victory, Krejci put Bergeron on his rear end in a net-front battle.
“I guess so,” said Krejci when asked after today’s morning skate about potential revenge on Bergeron. “I wasn’t doing much. The puck didn’t really stick on my tape like I wanted to, so I tried to bring other things to my game.
“It just happened it was him. So I guess you can say it was kind of revenge. But it’s not over yet, so …”
That’s right, the Krejci-Bergeron rivalry will continue tonight.
Karl & Stu – I was listening to that broadcast, too. I thought Krejci’s league-wide and international profile was more well-known to be confused with a tough guy. Let’s hope David let’s everyone know about his game (hits included) in Game 6.
Yeah legendary (read:over the hill) announcer bob cole called him a tough guy when he was fighting cammaleri in the reg season. It was embarrassing to hear, but I’m pretty sure everybody else involved in the broadcast felt the same way.
I would like to see a lot more hits on those little sh*@s…dirty playbook from Montreal must be in TB right now.
GO BRUINS GO!!! ALL OF EM.
bergeron the lesser went down so hard i was surprised it was cbc annoited ‘tough guy’ krejci laying the wood. habs must be envious of all the frogs on this team.
Really? Rivalry? Marc-Andre isn’t in the same breath as Krejci…
I think that hit was absolutely huge in that game. In front of the home crowd, people went nuts because no one missed the hit – the guy went sprawling and then stood up looking like a guy that had peed himself in front of the prettiest girl in school – and especially b/c it was a little guy like Krecji. That hit really got the crowd behind the effort, and the Bs no doubt fed off it!