Ryan: Patrice Bergeron’s 1,000th-point night further highlights his role in Bruins’ stellar start - and his continued defiance of Father Time

Had Brad Marchand had his way, the celebrations would have commenced on Saturday night within the friendly confines of TD Garden, with his longtime teammate and captain receiving the latest in a lengthy list of resounding cheers from the Bruins faithful.

For as much as Patrice Bergeron tends to shirk away from stats and integers focused on individual contributions and his own play (an ironic sentiment, considering the loaded resume he’s compiled for himself), his teammates are not in the same boat — at least when it comes to their veteran leader.

As such, with Bergeron already sitting at 999 career points in the waning minutes of Saturday’s blowout win over the Blackhawks, the rest of Boston’s roster skated and scrapped with heightened intensity and urgency as time ticked off the scoreboard — winning puck battles and feeding the biscuit into Bergeron’s domain in the slot in hopes that the star pivot would be able to etch another point onto the stat sheet.

“Obviously, we’re well aware of that coming up,” Marchand said on Saturday. “You could see we were looking for him there at the end of the game. We all want to see him get that milestone, so it’ll come at some point. We’ll be looking forward to that."

It only took another 35 minutes of ice time for Bergeron to finally reach the millennium mark on Monday night. And even if Amalie Arena is far from a stone’s throw from the Garden — the future Hall of Famer sure felt at home as soon as Marchand’s shot sailed into twine.

Perhaps it was the hundreds of black-and-gold sweaters sprinkled across the sea of blue down in Tampa, all who roared in adulation as soon as Bergeron’s milestone was secured.

Maybe it was the cheers of “Ber-gy! Ber-gy!” that erupted across the Lightning’s own barn — a testament to the presence of Bruins fans in enemy territory … and the respect that Bergeron has forged in the eyes of both friend and foe across the NHL and its collective fanbase. 

But for Bergeron, the most welcoming sight was that of a frenzied Marchand, nearly jumping into his arms as the entire Bruins bench emptied and swarmed their captain — a fitting show of admiration for the individual who has cultivated this team’s winning culture and helped pry open this contention window once again. 

“I just saw Marchy's reaction,” Bergeron said. ”That's when I kind of realized that I touched it. So I got it. Yeah, it was a kind of surreal moment, actually. It was cool to see everyone jump on like that, and very thankful for all those guys. A big part of what makes it fun to play this game.”

The collective celebration by Bergeron’s teammates on the ice — a plan that was brewed up by the entire group as soon as Bergeron started to inch closer to that four-figure scoring mark — was well-deserved, not just as a tribute to their captain’s long-lasting impact, but especially within the context of what has been a sterling start to the 2022-23 campaign. 

Yes, Bergeron was ultimately just one of 12 different B’s players who recorded a point in Monday’s road victory over the Lightning.

But his return alone for yet another campaign (especially at just a $2.5 million cap hit) and the urgency broadcast by his uncertain future has galvanized a room full of followers — all ready and willing to block shots, scrap down low, and do whatever is necessary to make the most of Bergeron’s potential last kick at the can. 

But make no mistake, the narrative surrounding Bergeron’s future isn’t the lone conduit that has sparked a Bruins team that has won 17 of its first 19 games of the new season. 

Rather, Bergeron’s own production on the ice has played a large part in this scoring start as well. 

This very well could be Bergeron’s last season in his Hall-of-Fame career. But he sure isn’t playing like it. 

It was already impressive enough last season when the 36-year-old Bergeron went out and posted arguably the finest defensive season for an NHL forward in recent memory, securing his record-breaking fifth Selke Trophy in the process.

But so far, Bergeron has put together one hell of an encore performance at age 37 — anchoring a B’s lineup that doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. 

With his 1,000th point on Monday (making him just the fourth B’s player to hit such a scoring total - Bourque, Bucyk, Esposito), Bergeron is now sitting at 18 points over 19 games — a pace that would have him on track for the fourth 70-point campaign of his career. 

But beyond just the baseline production, Bergeron has not seen the various other details of his game regress — especially hallmarks of his skillset like his proficiency at the faceoff circle (61.27 percent). 

In fact, you could say that Bergeron has been even BETTER than last season when it comes to the multitude of avenues in which the two-way pivot can positively impact a game. 

"It's amazing. There's not much left to say about Bergy and how good of a hockey player he is first and foremost," Taylor Hall said. "But as a captain and a leader, it's been incredible to share a room with him for the last couple years. To be so strong at one end and to be able to contribute 1,000 points at the other is really icing on the cake for what's been an incredible career for him. We're all lucky to be his teammates."

In some respect, it was fitting that a player whose dedication to refined and sound play down both ends of the ice hit the 1,000th-point threshold in the manner that Bergeron did on Monday — recording a secondary helper and doing the little things that allowed Marchand to finally light the lamp.

Those sometimes overlooked (but always critical) plays like weaving past Nikita Kucherov in the neutral zone and tying up the 6-foot-6 Victor Hedman down low don’t often make the highlight reels.

And as Jim Montgomery noted postgame, Bergeron likely would have hit 1,000 points years back had he “had any cheat in his game”. 

But such a play was quintessential Bergeron — a team-first pillar and future Hall of Famer whose greatest memory from Monday had little to do with what read on the stat sheet. 

Rather, he focused more on who he shared such a moment with on the ice — the same group that he hopes to share even greater revelries with in the months ahead. 

“It's obviously a possibility, something that was within my reach,” Bergeron said when asked if reaching 1,000 points motivated him to return. “At the same time, I was really focused on the type of team that we had. I knew I had more to give, I knew we had a team and having those conversations with (David Krejci) as well, knowing that he was leaning toward going back — like that is what influenced me to really want to sign a one-year contract. 

“As I said many times, I think it's a special game that gives you a lot and obviously you go through a lot of ups and downs. But all you remember are those memories, those friendships and the guys you go to battle with. So it was a special moment.”