Patrice Bergerons injury shows Bruins error in playing the captain in a meaningless Game 82
BRIGHTON, Mass. — Sylvie Bergeron and Gerard Cleary were at the Bell Centre in Montreal on April 13. So was Guillaume Bergeron. The parents and brother of Patrice Bergeron intended to watch the Bruins captain play what could have been his last NHL game in his home province.
The result was neither expected nor desired.
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The No. 1 center left after the first period of the Bruins’ regular-season finale because of an upper-body injury. That ailment, as well as a sickness, made Bergeron unavailable for the Bruins’ 3-1 Game 1 win over the Panthers. It is solely the injury, according to coach Jim Montgomery, that puts Bergeron off limits for Wednesday’s Game 2.
The fallout of a zero-meaning game may continue.
Bergeron felt good enough to skate on his own Wednesday morning at Warrior Ice Arena. Skills coach John McLean put Bergeron through the paces. Bergeron did not participate in the morning skate.
Derek Forbort, Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall, the Bruins’ previous banged-up bunch, also skated on their own in March and April as they recovered from their injuries. All three progressed to practicing with their teammates while wearing non-contact jerseys. They then proceeded to full-participation practice.
Only then were they cleared for game action.
This might not be the protocol for Bergeron, of course. This is the playoffs. Return-to-play timelines can be accelerated. Ten years ago in the Stanley Cup Final, Bergeron played through a punctured lung, broken ribs, torn cartilage and a separated shoulder. The man knows how to manage pain.
But whether Bergeron will be healed enough to play in Game 3 is anyone’s guess.
Bergeron did not practice in either of the two sessions prior to Game 1. He had also been sick with an illness that had affected David Pastrnak, Tomas Nosek, Jakub Lauko and Jeremy Swayman. There may have been others in that mix too.
But after Game 1, Montgomery disclosed that Bergeron had been around his teammates and in the coaches’ office to offer his guidance. Had Bergeron still been sick enough not to play, it is doubtful the team would have risked him mingling with the group.
“He doesn’t get rattled by anything,” Montgomery said Tuesday. “He promotes positivity and cool, calm confidence that permeates through the group. We keep him involved. Like yesterday, we’re having him in the coaches’ room. ‘What are you seeing?’ He’s in the dressing room talking to the players about what he’s seeing. That gives the players confidence. He has a huge presence with us, even if he’s not on the ice.”
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The Bruins had nothing to play for against the Canadiens in Game 82. They were awaiting the result of the Panthers-Hurricanes game that night to determine their first-round opponent.
Perhaps Bergeron wanted to play to honor his commitment to the team. Maybe he wanted to make a possible final appearance in front of his family in Montreal. He probably felt a final tuneup would optimize him for Game 1.
In retrospect, the Bruins should have told him it was an unnecessary risk and left him out of uniform, if not at home entirely. Jakub Zboril, a healthy scratch that night, could have played as a seventh defenseman.
This is all easy to say in hindsight, of course. It could very well have been Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy or Hampus Lindholm, all of whom played against the Canadiens, to have gotten hurt prior to the playoffs. This is hockey. It’s not safe. Everyone is at risk of injury at any time.
Things could be worse for the Bruins. They are up 1-0 in the series. If the Panthers were a tougher opponent, they would have made the playoffs earlier than April 11 following losses by the Sabres and Penguins.
It’s not that Florida is a bad team. It’s that the Bruins have too many weapons for the Panthers to handle. The Bruins have a good deal of offensive room for improvement after a sleepy Game 1.
Meanwhile, Pavel Zacha is a credible short-term replacement on the No. 1 line. Zacha will stay there for Game 2, between Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.
“It’s how hard he competes with skill on puck,” Montgomery said of Zacha. “He wins a lot of battles for us now. Kills a lot of plays. He wins battles, protects pucks, makes plays. It’s how hard he is with his skill and his ability on pucks. He wants to be first on pucks. Because of that, it just helps build our team’s game.”
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It will take more than a Game 82 error to sink the Bruins. Even if Bergeron means everything to them.
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
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