The sixth-year center has kept the B's afloat this season with his reliable play, timely goals and versatility. Bergeron has always thrived in areas not captured by the numbers on the stat sheet. His dominance in the neutral zone, his gritty play in the corners and his superb defensive and back-checking efforts remain the fortes of his game.
Never relied upon as a go-to goal scorer, Bergeron has emerged as just that this season. He leads the B's with five tallies in 16 contests, but he hasn't slowed down where he's always been the most valuable.
In last week's shootout loss to the Canadiens, Bergeron was the ultimate menace, peppering Carey Price with seven shots and eventually popping a late goal in regulation to give the B's a much-needed point. That goal with 52 ticks remaining also broke a nearly three-game scoreless stretch for the club. Not since 1929 has a Bruins team gone three entire games without a goal.
“It kind of felt like we scored a goal for a little bit,” Bergeron told the Boston Herald with a grin. “It got our spirits up for a couple of minutes, and we had to keep battling.”
Unfortunately, it didn't get their spirits up high enough to earn a shootout win, but Bergie and the B's did build off that point and keep their momentum going into the weekend battle with the Sabres.
Buffalo entered that contest as the Northeast Division leaders and had allowed a league-low 29 goals. Boston put up a four-spot on the Sabres, and Bergeron was there to assist on Marco Sturm's goal, the eventual game-winner.
The one assist sticks out as a key stat for Bergeron in that win, but most fans may not have noticed that he played over 20 minutes in that game. Only defensemen Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman and Derek Morris (all of whom average well over 20 per contest) saw more ice time for Claude Julien's B's.
Since Oct. 22, Bergie has played over 20 minutes in six of the team's last eight games, playing 19:56 and 19:24 in the other two.
“I thought he had a great game [against Buffalo], and if anything, he deserved a star,” Julien said. “He’s had a great start to the season. I just wish more guys would jump on his back and follow suit.”
Bergeron has been everywhere for the Black and Gold this year, especially after the loss of fellow centermen Marc Savard (broken foot) and David Krejci (H1N1 virus). The alternate captain continues to see time on the penalty-kill unit — a position in which he's thrived since donning the spoked B earlier this decade. Bergeron has also found himself down low on the power play, and despite the unit's struggles to find the net, Bergie is gaining quality experience that will only deepen the special-teams unit when Savard and Krejci return.
Hockey Hub optimists are looking at that late goal against the Habs as a turning point in the early season for the B's, but Bergeron isn't content without the "W."
"It's one step forward to get that goal, to get that point," Bergeron told ESPNBoston.com. "But we need to get two points. We need to win games. And we have to take it upon ourselves and do it."
