BOSTON — As Patrice Bergeron addressed reporters following Wednesday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, he wore a small strip of plastic around his right wrist. It was a memento from one of the longest, but most rewarding, days of his life.
“It was an eventful night,” the Bruins center said. “But well worth it.”
Bergeron’s wrist attire was not a fashion statement, but rather the hospital bracelet he wore while his wife, Stephanie, gave birth to their first child, a boy they named Zack.
Just hours later and despite having barely slept a wink, Bergeron was on the ice with his teammates at TD Garden.
“It was more (about) finding a way to get myself ready even though I only had an hour of sleep,” he explained. “I was trying to just think about hockey. That’s the only way you can really go about it and try to be professional.”
He certainly performed like one.
Bergeron had a hand in each of Boston’s first two goals, assisting on Brett Connolly’s first-period tally and then potting one of his own. He held on to the puck from the latter — his NHL-leading fourth power-play goal of the season — and planned to present it to the newest member of the Bergeron family.
“He didn’t look like he hadn’t slept last night,” Connolly said. “He’s a gamer. We’re all very happy for him. Obviously, it’s his first child, and it was nice to see him come to the rink (Wednesday) and want to play. And he had a good game. He didn’t look like a guy who was up all night at the hospital, for sure.”
The only thing missing from Bergeron’s Hat Trick (goal, assist, baby) was a win, as the Bruins eventually fell to the Flyers 5-4 in overtime. But that result, while frustrating for a B’s team that had entered the evening on a two-game win streak, did little to dampen the spirits of the first-time father.
“There’s no word that can really describe it,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s still kind of surreal. I’m trying to soak everything in and spend some time with my son. It’s been a great day, I guess, and I had to get focused for (the game).
“… It’s something that’s tough to describe, but yeah, we’re a happy family right now.”
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
