But the Bruins were glad to have him back on Saturday nonetheless, and Peverley made sure that the goals kept coming in bunches as he chipped in a goal and an assist in Boston's 6-2 win over Buffalo.
"It's not fun sitting out games," Peverley said. "It's not a lot of fun being out. Being able to be in the games is important. … You want to get back in, helping the team wherever it may be. I don't like sitting so it's great to be able to help the team whatever way I can."
Peverley missed the previous two games with an undisclosed injury, but has been back at practice since Wednesday and showed no signs of rust upon his return.
"He was skating well tonight, and he didn't seem like he missed a beat," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He was using his outside speed, carrying it deep in the Buffalo zone, and that's what we needed to do. We needed to get that puck in deep, and he was able to do that a lot of times under control. I liked his game. For having missed the last two, I thought he came back real strong."
Peverley got Boston on the board early in the second, tying the game at 1-1 as he drove down the left wing, cut to the front of the net and slipped the puck between Ryan Miller's pads for Peverley's fourth goal of the season.
Chris Kelly picked up the assist on that play, and Peverley returned the favor in the third with a perfect crossing pass from the left wing to Kelly at the right post.
"He was really good," Bruins forward Tyler Seguin said of Peverley. "He stepped in and played a really big part of our win and obviously his goal and even better his pass and just his all around game. He didn't waste any time getting back in his groove."
Peverley finished at plus-2 with the two points and three shots in 15:45 of ice time, and now has 4-5-9 totals in 13 games this season.
Even on a team that has scored 30 goals in its last five games, getting a player like Peverley back is always welcome.
"He's a big part of our team and he had a huge goal for us to get us going," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. "It's nice having him back. He plays power play, penalty kill and all situations, so he's a big part of our team and we needed him."
