Bruins-Canucks Notes: Patrice Bergeron Dominates In Faceoff Circle

BOSTON — It’s well-established that Patrice Bergeron is one of the best faceoff men in the NHL. That was evident Tuesday night when the Bruins dominated the Vancouver Canucks in the faceoff circle in a 2-1 loss at TD Garden.

Bergeron won 31 of 38 faceoffs (85 percent) — the most of any player this season — to help Boston earn a 48-27 edge overall. He went 19-for-24 at even strength, 11-for-12 on the power play, 17-for-22 in the attacking zone and 8-for-9 in the defensive zone.

“Oh God, he was unbelievable,” Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said when asked if he’s happy he doesn’t have to see Bergeron in the faceoff circle for a while. “That was tough, every time we started we didn’t have the puck, and it was a battle.”

Bergeron now ranks second among all NHL forwards in faceoff percentage (59.7) and second in wins (810).

— Tuukka Rask started in net for the Bruins and suffered his 10th loss of the season in which he allowed two goals or fewer. He made 26 saves on 28 shots for a .929 save percentage. Rask has appeared in 18 straight games and 27 of the last 28.

Despite his heavy workload over the last two months, the Finnish netminder said he feels “great” and hasn’t needed to ask the coaches for any rest.

“I think we’re at the stage where once the season winds down and you go in the playoffs, you try to manage your practice time and your rest,” Rask said. “If I feel so bad that I don’t feel like I should go out there, I’m going to tell (head coach Claude Julien). But that point hasn’t come yet. Once we get to the whole season and stuff I’m sure everybody’s going to get their time off.”

— Gregory Campbell’s absence from the lineup Tuesday resulted in Chris Kelly taking his spot at center on the fourth line. That move allowed veteran winger Daniel Paille to enter the lineup and skate alongside Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. This trio set up Boston’s only goal and combined for a team-high 13 shots.

“Carl and Loui, they’re definitely offensively skilled and I’m definitely — for not practicing too often with them, I definitely enjoyed the opportunity,” Paille said. “We had a lot of scoring chances, and hopefully if I get the opportunity to play next game, we have those opportunities again. Hopefully we can capitalize more on them.”

— The Bruins nearly scored in the third period when a shot from Paille was blocked in the crease. Canucks defenseman Ryan Stanton appeared to put his glove on the puck in the crease, which should have resulted in a penalty shot for the Bruins. The referees called for a faceoff instead.

“It was very vague; I mean I think he said that (Canucks goalie Eddie Lack’s) helmet came off before (Stanton) put his hand on the puck,” Paille said when asked about the referee’s explanation of the play.

“My focus was on the puck so I have no idea when the helmet came off. But I think at that point there’s no sense of arguing. We had two or three opportunities right before that happened and we could have finished it. The opportunity ended up bouncing off of them and they didn’t even know where it was, but unfortunately we just didn’t finish that there.”