Bruins, with no Bergeron or Krejci, down Panthers

The Boston Bruins were without captain Patrice Bergeron and fellow center David Krejci for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round matchup against the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

It didn’t matter.

Boston raced out to a 4-0 lead, then held on for a 4-2 road victory in Sunrise, Florida, to take a 2-1 series lead.

Bergeron hasn’t played this series and did not travel to Florida for Games 3 and 4. Coach Jim Montgomery said on Friday that his star center is “likely” to return in Game 5 in Boston on Wednesday.

Krejci, meanwhile, was a late scratch for Game 3 due to an upper-body injury. He did play in the first two games, collecting one assist.

Bergeron remains in Boston as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury that he suffered in the Bruins’ season finale against the Montreal Canadiens. He missed their Game 1 win and their Game 2 defeat to open the series in Boston.

The Bruins have not disclosed the nature of Bergeron’s injury. He had been skating on his own before practices in Boston.

Bergeron has been around the team behind the scenes, but the Bruins have missed his presence on the ice. Bergeron, 37, had 58 points in 78 games this season as their top-line center. He’s considered the best defensive forward in the NHL, having won the Selke Trophy a record five times. Bergeron wins 61% of his faceoffs. In the series so far against Florida, Boston has won less than 50% of the faceoffs.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report.