Absent for the last 16 games due to a rib/sternoclavicular injury, Patrice Bergeron was relatively kept in check Saturday afternoon against Nashville.
Well, at least in minutes played, with his 16:25 TOI over two minutes lower than his season average.
“It didn’t feel like that,” Bergeron said postgame of his time on ice.
But during that shorter stint on the ice, the B’s pivot more than made the most of his time out against the Predators.
The final line speaks for itself — two goals and two assists for Bergeron, and two points in the standings for the Bruins off of a 5-2 win at TD Garden.
“He is one of the best players in the league,” Brad Marchand said of Bergeron. “You know, it shows a lot. The fact that he is able to come back and just jump into the game and get four points against a team like Nashville who is one of the top teams in the league.”
Picking up right where he left off in terms of his play in the offensive zone, Bergeron is still on pace for his fifth 30-goal campaign — and on track to shatter his previous career-high of 73 points (2005-06) despite only being able to play in a maximum of 66 games this year.
But even away from the scoresheet, Bergeron’s return to this Bruins’ roster had a sizable impact — and a breath of fresh air for a B’s club starting to get on a roll.
Bergeron’s two-way prowess has been a well documented, but the pivot’s proficiency with puck retrievals is a welcome return — both during 5v5 play and while serving in his role at the bumper on Boston’s first power-play unit.
Even during sequences that didn’t lead to points on the board, Bergeron’s ability to turn a frantic split-second stretch into either a shot on net or a feed back into the high slot can open up the ice for his linemates — a welcome sight for Danton Heinen.
A year removed from a 47-point campaign as a rookie, Heinen has struggled to get rolling in the offensive zone this season with eight points through 33 games — with Saturday’s promotion to Bergeron’s line standing as part of Bruce Cassidy’s plan to get some of the club’s younger skaters rolling.
As seen in the past when Bergeron has centered lines with skaters like Anders Bjork (60.58 Corsi For Percentage in 2017-18), Heinen (54.59 Corsi-For Percentage in 2017-18) — hell, even Lee Stempniak (58.45 Corsi-For Percentage in 2015-16) and Brett Connolly (55.3 Corsi-For Percentage in 15-16), it’s pretty apparent.
Skating on Bergeron’s line — especially given his ability to be put on fires down one end of the ice while keeping plays alive down the other — will give you a sizable window to succeed.
And while he only notched an assist in Saturday’s win, Heinen found himself right in the middle of numerous Grade-A looks — ranking second on the team with a pair of high-danger scoring chances against Pekka Rinne.
“I haven’t played with someone as good as that,” Heinen said of Bergeron’s ability to keep pucks alive. “It’s anywhere, all over the ice. He’s always in the perfect spot, his stick, I think, is the best in the league. In lanes and winning puck battles. It’s such an asset for him. We can learn a lot from him. We’ve talked about it — you can create so much just off of having a good stick. You see that from him.”
Even during plays in which he’s not creating chaos in the slot, Bergeron’s two-way skill generated quality looks for the B’s. David Pastrnak’s tally in the third period — the byproduct off of a 2-on-1 rush with Marchand — was generated in Boston’s zone, with Bergeron forcing the turnover off a poke check against Ryan Johansen and setting Marchand loose into open ice.
All you need to know is 37, 63, and 88 combined for a goal. Carry on. pic.twitter.com/56xrdqS7xS
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 22, 2018