Is it time to start getting worried about Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron’s health?
The perennial defensive forward has been held out of a handful of recent Bruins games, including their 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins as well as yesterday’s shootout victory over the St. Louis Blues. And with the Stanley Cup playoffs on the horizon, the Bruins will certainly need all hands on deck if they’re to prove that their historic regular season hasn’t been just a fluke.
“Bergeron’s out,” Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said earlier in the week. “Resting nagging injuries here that — obviously the cross-check in ear — but he’s been dealing with some upper-body and lower-body issues that we’d like to get him some rest on.”
With 57 points on the season, Bergeron ranks third on the Bruins in scoring behind sniper David Pastrnak and scoring pest Brad Marchand. However, he recently took a hit to the head from Montreal’s Rem Pitlick late last month, sparking a beatdown from Marchand at TD Garden:
He also recently received stitches after an injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The good news for Boston is that their playoff berth was already secured a long time ago, as well as already having cemented their status as the top regular season squad in the League. Resting Bergeron won’t have any effect on their postseason positioning, so it may be the wisest choice for the coaching staff to have him get some well deserved time off.