No David Krejci, still no Patrice Bergeron, and a starting goaltender who arrived to Sunrise at less than 100 percent? No problem for Jim Montgomery and the Bruins.

Not a damn problem, actually.

On FLA Live Arena with the chance to go up 3-1 in their first-round series with the Panthers on Sunday afternoon, the Bruins did exactly that, as they hammered an undermanned Panther defense and Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky throughout the evening, and by all means laughed at the Panthers en route to a 6-2 final.

Like all three of their wins in this series have, this one took a mix of knowing when to walk away and when to engage with an emotionally-driven Panthers squad, with the Bruins happily taking the power plays that led to a pair of power-play strikes and later engaging when Matthew Tkachuk & Co. tried to start some nonsense with the game decided.

And it was yet another night of every single Bruin pulling their weight, and making sure that the series returned to Boston with the B’s possessing the knockout blow in their hand for Wednesday night’s Game 5 at TD Garden.

Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars of the game from a Game 4 win in Sunrise…

• No. 3 Star: Jake DeBrusk

  

  Apr 23, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during the third period of Game 4 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at FLA Live Arena. (Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports)

• It sure feels like Playoff Jake is back for the Bruins, doesn’t it?

  After an injury derailed DeBrusk’s 2019 postseason and COVID hell tortured Jake DeBrusk in both 2020 and 2021, Playoff Jake showed signs of returning to the surface in last year’s first-round series against the Hurricanes, which featured two goals and four points in seven games.

  Playoff Jake has come to the table off the jump in this series, too, as Game 4 featured two goals on two shots in 14:40 of time on ice, and brought him up to three goals and five points through four games in this first-round showdown with the Panthers.

• JD ON THE DOORSTEP. pic.twitter.com/d0qEtXt58T

  — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 23, 2023

• When DeBrusk is playing with that straightaway speed and net-front jam, the Bruins are an undeniably more dangerous team. And with so much of the defensive efforts being put forth against second-line (in lineup card only) right wing David Pastrnak, getting these contributions from DeBrusk is just plain giiiiiigantic.

• No. 2 Star: Taylor Hall

  

  Apr 23, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Bruins left wing Taylor Hall (71) advances the puck on Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period of Game 4 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at FLA Live Arena. (Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports)

• When covering a playoff run, you come back to certain quotes and things said by players. And as I’ve watched Taylor Hall in these last few games, I couldn’t help but think of what he said between Games 1 and 2 of this series.

  Holding court at his stall in the B’s locker room at Warrior Ice Arena, Hall acknowledged what a wagon the Bruins have this season, and how this might be the best chance he’ll ever get at winning a Stanley Cup. When the No. 1 overall pick from his draft class and a former Hart Trophy winner says that, there’s weight behind it.

  Taylor Hall: “This is probably as good a chance as I’ll ever have to win a Stanley Cup, and that’s not lost on me.”

  — Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) April 18, 2023

  It also means a little something extra when Hall goes on absolute tear since acknowledging it.

• HALLSY GOES WHOOPS. pic.twitter.com/ISqa2wNfSs

  — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 23, 2023

• On the board with two goals and four points in just 15:06 of action, Hall became the first Bruin to record at least two goals and four points in one playoff game since Brad Marchand accomplished the feat in last year’s series with Carolina, and just the sixth Boston skater to do it since the 2005-06 season.

  Overall, he’s just the 18th different skater to accomplish the feat in the franchise’s playoff history.

  Nice little list for Taylor Hall. pic.twitter.com/znFF1A5XJm

  — Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) April 24, 2023

• No. 1 Star: Linus Ullmark

  

  Apr 23, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) blocks the shot of Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) during the third period of Game 4 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at FLA Live Arena. (Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports)

• Whatever the Bruins are doing to ensure that goaltender Linus Ullmark is upright and ready to go for game action is clearly working, and there’s no reason to change a thing.

  Originally considered a game-time decision for last Friday’s Game 3, the Bruins kept Ullmark off the ice for the team’s morning skate and Ullmark rewarded them with a 29-of-31 performance, and with a shutout pitched for the first 54 minutes and change of action. It’s believed that the Bruins then held Ullmark off the ice for a semi-optional practice between Games 3 and 4, and Ullmark put forth a Game 4 performance that was downright sensational, with 41 saves on 43 shots faced in just under 57 minutes of work.

  Ullmark had to be incredible off the jump in this one, too, as the Panthers landed the first 10 shots of the game on Ullmark’s net. His top save over that stretch was a header on a two-on-one look that left the Panthers and the FLA Live Arena stunned at the home team’s inability to solve Ullmark.

• Linus Ullmark.
  
  What. A. Save. pic.twitter.com/6g7AzS3BX0

  — Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) April 23, 2023

• Ullmark also had to shine with the Bruins down a man, and came through with 10 saves during Florida’s power-play opportunities. Saves by strength have only been tracked since 1997-98, so it’s not the greatest sample size, of course, but it marked just the 14th time that a B’s netminder had double-digit power-play saves in a playoff game.

  Ullmark did it in a loss against the Hurricanes last year, while Tuukka Rask accomplished the feat four times over his Bruins career. Tim Thomas did it five times during his Boston run, and on four separate occasions during his legitimately unbelievable 2011 run to a Stanley Cup, while Byron Dafoe (two times) and Andrew Raycroft also did it during their time with the Black and Gold.

  Ullmark came through with another callback to Thomas, too, as he was more than willing to drop the gloves with the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk after Tkachuk tried to instigate some nastiness with him in the third period of play.

  Ullmark did not back down, and the Bruins simply loved it.

  Through four games this postseason, Ullmark has three wins and a .926 save percentage, which is the third-best mark among goaltenders with multiple starts this postseason.

• ULLMARK WANTS TKACHUK pic.twitter.com/oyszFSVpY9

  — Marina Maher (@marinakmaher) April 23, 2023

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