Without injured leader Patrice Bergeron up front, Bruins outplayed again to start road trip

DENVER – One person will make a huge difference for the struggling Boston Bruins – Patrice Bergeron.

Sure, one player doesn’t make an entire team, but the alternate captain makes this team tick the way it should when he’s in the lineup. Bergeron’s displeasure with not playing due to a lower-body injury is evident when you see him watching games from the press box to begin this season.

After the Bruins’ second-consecutive loss to the Colorado Avalanche, this one a 6-3 drubbing Wednesday night at Pepsi Center, Bergeron’s presence on the ice is greatly needed.



He brings balance to the lineup. His ability to win faceoffs allows the Bruins to start with the puck, which usually equals success. He makes the players around him better, and on nights when the team is not disciplined and finds itself in the penalty box too often, Bergeron can kill penalties.

The younger players on this team that may not know how Bergeron reacts to adversity during the regular season need that mentor right now too. After the loss, coach Bruce Cassidy described it as a work in progress with the younger players.

“All we did was create fires,” he said. “I’m disappointed in the group because that’s where your veteran guys, your leadership, we should be better than that in those situations. We know we’re going to have some issues with our young guys being hard on pucks, learning the ropes here and how to stay in the game.

“We weren’t hard on (the puck) and with some of our younger guys, that’s a work in progress. That’s part of the learning curve of playing in the National Hockey League is be hard on pucks, and when you have it you better hang onto it because someone is going to try and take it from you.”

Just because the 1-2-0 Bruins are only three games into the season is not an excuse. The Bruins showed a bit of bite in the third period, cutting their deficit to one goal before Colorado scored two empty-netters, but Boston needs to put together a full 60-minute effort from everyone.

“I’m not in the excuse-making business,” Cassidy said. “Listen, it’s a National Hockey League game and two points are two points every night. We’ve got to be more intelligent and more focused with those decisions. Whether it’s rust or not, we’ve got to correct them.”

Bergeron skated on his own Wednesday afternoon and said he felt better. The team has the day off in Phoenix on Thursday, but he’s scheduled to skate again in hopes he can return on Saturday against the Coyotes, or on Sunday against the Golden Knights.

He needs to be front and center for the younger core.

“It’s a standard – Boston Bruins hockey. We want to play to a certain level each night and we have expectations,” said Torey Krug. “The older guys in this room have expectations and younger guys have to play up to that level as well, but it’s up to us to lead the way. There’s a standard we’re trying to achieve and right now we’re just not finding it. The third period we started to find our game a little bit and hopefully that’s a recipe for success in the long run.”

Bergeron is at his best when it matters the most, and even though the Bruins are only three games into the season, he’s the type of player that can create confidence throughout the lineup. His presence also allows Cassidy to assemble the type of lineup he envisioned at the start of training camp (with the exception of David Backes, who is sidelined for the next few weeks as he undergoes treatment for diverticulitis).

Bergeron, who has always been the type of player that leads by example, has become more of a vocal leader the last few seasons. He has the ability to calm things down both on the ice and on the bench. The majority of Wednesday’s game was ugly and the Bruins couldn’t gain any composure.

“I have no words for that,” said captain Zdeno Chara. “Not a very good game, obviously. We were not strong on the puck, with the puck, under the puck and we weren’t good enough all over the ice.

“Every game is important. It doesn’t matter if it’s game No. 1, 2, 3 or 80. We know we have to be a lot better.”

Once Bergeron returns, that will happen. For the Bruins’ sake, hopefully that’s sooner than later.