Coach Jim Montgomery said on Tuesday morning that David Krejci will not play in the final two games of the regular season, meaning the veteran centerman will miss the last six games of the season in all with the nagging lower body injury.

The good news is that Krejci skated prior to the B’s morning skate and Montgomery is hopeful he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs.

“Today was his best day, so that has us optimistic about where he’s going to be Game One,” said Montgomery.

It is not yet known whether the B’s will start on Monday or Tuesday against an opponent that’s still yet to be determined.

The Krejci injury does deprive the B’s of giving the forward group one final test run with all the expected pieces in place. We’ve yet to see the presumed third line of Taylor Hall (who returned after a month-plus absence last Saturday), Charlie Coyle and Tyler Bertuzzi. With Krejci out, Pavel Zacha has been centering the second line with Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak, but Montgomery said he’d try to work in a shift here and there in the last two games for Hall-Coyle-Bertuzzi.

Coyle, who has played with both Hall and Bertuzzi at different times, isn’t overly concerned with with whether he gets any shifts together with his prospective linemates.

“Whatever the coach decides. I don’t really care, to be honest,” said Coyle with a chuckle. “I’m going to play wherever I’m assigned and make the most of it. I think playoff time, it can change and you just have to be ready and make sure you’re as familiar with your linemates as possible and make the most of it. Sometimes you’re going to play with guys that you haven’t in a while, or maybe not at all. Maybe it’s a new guy coming up or whatever. You’ve got make the most of it and I make sure I personally play my game, they play their game and we’ll talk a lot and hopefully it clicks.”

Coyle has seemed to be a little more shot-conscious lately, something that Montgomery has said that he, Hall and Bertuzzi will have to be.

“That’s something I’ve been told since I was 8, so it’s nothing new. It’s just my nature, how I am, how I’m programmed right now,” said Coyle. “It takes a lot for me to say, hey, be a little selfish and just shoot it, but that’s something I’m working on every day. And usually when I do that, good things happen.”

In Philadephia, Coyle even scored on a one-timer, which might have been the first one he’s taken all year.

“I’m one-for-one. Great percentage,” joked Coyle….

Tomas Nosek’s faceoff percentage is a hair under 60 percent and he was coming off a tremendous night in Philly when he won 15-of-16 draws. He’s been a secret weapon for the B’s in late lead-protection situations.

“You know it’s a huge benefit when Patrice Bergeron is OK (with it) because he trusts that Nosek is going to win the draw on that side as well,” said Montgomery. “And then at the end of the game I have both of them out there. The first guy can go cheat his rear end off because he knows there’s another ace behind him. It’s a nice feeling on the left dot.”…

Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway were facing their old team for the first time on Tuesday. It had to be especially strange for Orlov, who had spent his entire career with the Capitals organization.

“For sure it’s going to be emotional, but I try not to think about that. Probably by game time, yeah, I’ll probably be a little more nervous,” said Orlov. “It is what it is. It’s the first time I’ve been in this situation. I try to treat this like a normal day and focus on the game. We want to win, so it’s important. But it’s a big night. There were so many years in this organization, it’s not easy. It’s tough to know you left and there’s a new chapter in my life. I just try to focus on that. It’s the most important thing I can do for myself. I think it’s helped me.”…

Derek Forbort, out since he suffered a foot injury on March 16, participated in the morning skate wearing a regular jersey, but Montgomery said the sturdy defenseman may have jumped the gun.

“He’s got some boxes to check. I was actually wondering why he was in black jersey today. He’s supposed to be in a merlot still, from everything I’ve been told,” said Montgomery.

Meanwhile, Nick Foligno remained in the non-contact jersey…

Jakub Zboril and Jakub Lauko were the healthy scratches.