Back from a 7-game absence, Patrice Bergeron should provide a quick fix to one slumping strength of Bruins

For a player who impacts the game in the number of ways that Patrice Bergeron does on a regular basis, it’s hard to chalk up just one area in which the veteran pivot should provide a lift in Boston’s matchup against the Senators on Monday. 

Back after a seven-game absence due to a nagging lower-body injury, Bergeron is expected to slot in to his usual spot between David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. As expected, Bergeron should provide a shot in the arm to the Bruins’ top line, given that his two wingers have only totaled one goal and two total points in their last four games. 

"It will really help March and Pasta," Bruce Cassidy said. "They're a good line and they function well as a threesome, so take any one of those three guys out and I think it hurts their performance. We still won a lot of games without Bergy in the lineup. We have good depth, but more for emotion too.

“That's where we lack a little bit of zip in our game. I think it's understandable after a short summer. We knew it would happen. Something like him coming into the lineup or a younger guy giving us a spark, whatever the case is, is usually good for us."

Elsewhere, No. 37’s impact should be felt down the rest of the lineup (especially with David Krejci and Charlie Coyle back in their respective spots at 2C and 3C), on the PK unit and especially in Boston’s own zone — where the four-time Selke Trophy winner is still one of the best in eliminating an opposing top-six forward combination.

And yet, for as much as Boston has continued to pile on points at a consistent clip (5-1-1) during Bergeron’s absence, one particular area of the Bruins’ game could see an immediate spike in production with Bergeron back in the fold.



For years now, Boston has often relied on its power play to bail out the club when the rest of offense starts to stagnate. That was especially evident last season, in which a B’s man advantage that ranked third in the NHL (25.9% success rate) helped offset some of the team’s struggles during 5v5 play, where Boston only ranked 19th overall with 157 tallies. 

That power play has continued to be as advertised in 2019-20, cashing in on 28.4% of its opportunities, good for third in the league. And yet, Boston had managed to consistently hover above that coveted 30% threshold for most of the year, especially when Bergeron was taking over as the "bumper" on the PP1 unit. 

Even with that 5-1-1 record, Boston's power play has lacked plenty of punch over its last seven games without Bergeron. During that stretch, the Bruins have only managed to score three goals on 17 power-play opportunities — good for just a 17.6% success rate.

Those numbers have managed to plummet during this recent skid, in which the B's only managed to secure one out of a possible four points in home matchups against the Blackhawks and Avalanche. Boston has not lit the lamp on the man advantage since back on Dec. 1 — when David Backes beat Carey Price in the closing seconds of a 5v4 sequence. Since then, the Bruins have been 0-for-10 on the power play.

Bergeron may not have a weapon as lethal as Pastrnak's one-time bomb from the left circle, nor is he as dynamic as Torey Krug on the power play when it comes to operating down at the half wall. But Bergeron's play at the bumper, often hovering around the slot in the midst of the opposing team's four-man box on the PK, helps keep the other gears turning on every power-play shift.

With Bergeron drawing bodies out of the slot, a lane is usually open for Krug or Marchand to launch seam passes past traffic, creating a number of scoring possibilities. Bergeron himself can facilitate a pass through the slot, or he can redirect or fire home a rebound from his Grade-A spot on the ice. And if a team opts to simply clog up the slot, Krug and Marchand have even more space to operate. It's a difficult spot for many to master on the power play, given the number of roles a "bumper" guy is tasked with.

But it's a role that Bergeron has excelled in for years now, and is one of the primary reasons why that Bruins power play has been so lethal for years now.

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With Bergeron back in his usual role on the power play, don't be surprised if Boston's man-advantage starts clicking again in short order.

"I think we read off each other so well and he’s such a dominant player," Marchand said of Bergeron. "He creates so much, not only from his offensive game, but his defensive game. The turnovers he creates and his positioning. It just adds another weapon for our group and we feel a little more comfortable because we’ve been with him for so long. It helps, but that’s also on us. We’ve got to be a little bit better for him as well and start pulling our weight a little more."