UPDATE (Noon ET): The Boston Bruins announced Tuesday afternoon that Patrice Bergeron suffered a rib and shoulder injury on Nov. 16 vs. the Dallas Stars. The B’s forward is out at least four weeks and will be re-evaluated after that period.
ORIGINAL STORY: Things just went from bad to much, much worse for the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins, already without captain and shutdown defenseman Zdeno Chara for at least the next few weeks, are faced with the prospect of not having Selke Trophy-winning forward Patrice Bergeron for at least four weeks, according to multiple reports. NBC Sports’ Kathryn Tappen was the first to report the news.
The good news, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, is Bergeron’s upper body injury isn’t a head injury — Bergeron has a history of concussions — but the Bruins center instead is dealing with a shoulder injury that will keep him out of action “upward of” that four-week time frame.
Losing a player of Bergeron’s caliber always hurts. He’s a four-time Selke winner and is one of the best two-way forwards of all time. Making matters worse, however, is just how well Bergeron and his linemates — Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak — are playing this season. The trio has combined for 32 of the Bruins’ 58 goals, and Bergeron’s 26 points through 19 games led the team.
Replacing that sort of production is impossible, and finding anything close to Bergeron is going to be near-impossible given the Bruins’ inability to find secondary scoring through the first quarter of the season. Boston has been able to tread water to this point, entering Tuesday holding the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
