Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron received some high praise from one of the NHL’s top young stars.
Before the Bruins’ visit Monday, New York Islanders center John Tavares — by far the best player on a team that sits dead last in the Metropolitan Division — talked about the admiration he has for his Boston counterpart.
“I’ve always said he’s the hardest player to play against in the league,” Tavares said, via Dan Cagen of the MetroWest Daily News.
Bergeron is known as one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards — his 2012 Selke Trophy speaks to that — but he’s routinely overlooked by the national hockey media. That he can garner such praise from a scoring talent like Tavares, his soon-to-be Canadian Olympic teammate, is evidence that the box score doesn’t do Bergeron’s game justice.
But Tavares, who enters the week as the NHL’s second-leading scorer behind Sidney Crosby, has never had much of a problem putting the puck in the net against the Bruins. He’s a point-per-game player against the B’s (17 in 17 career meetings) and has lit up Boston for three goals and two assists in two games so far this season.
