Patrice Bergeron looked as if he hadn’t missed a beat in his first game back after missing the previous 16 contests with a rib/sternoclavicular injury.
The Boston Bruins center tallied four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in his team’s 5-2 thumping of the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. After the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy noted what a difference-maker Bergeron was for the Black and Gold.
“Bergy was a big part of the win today,” Cassidy said, as seen on NESN’s Bruins postgame coverage. “If not the biggest part.”
Bergeron’s second goal marked the 300th of his career, putting him in sixth place for most goals in team history.
Along with No. 37 being back in the lineup, the bench boss also gloated about how well Boston has been playing of late, adding it doesn’t matter who his team plays.
“The last two, three games I think we’ve been checking really well. We’re gonna be hard to play against whether the pucks go in or not and when they do go in and they don’t count them,” Cassidy said. “Now our offense is coming around so we’re gonna be a pretty good team if that happens.
“We’re starting to play a little better, scoring’s coming around. I think it doesn’t matter who the opposition is for us. Right now we just gotta be ready and focus on getting our wins so we can climb back into that (playoff) race.”
Here are some other notes from Saturday’s Bruins-Predators game:
— Seven of Brad Marchand’s last 12 goals have come on the power play.
The winger scored on the man advantage in the second period to give Boston a 3-2 lead. Saturday also marked his 30th career three-point game.
— David Krejci’s eight-game point streak ended Saturday, but there was no shortage of praise from Cassidy for the center.
“He’s been terrific,” he said. “I’ve been very, very impressed by his ability to match up against everybody and almost be error-free in the defensive part of the game. It’s been a real credit to him and it’s helped us win a lot of games.”
— Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 of 30 shots. It was the netminder’s third straight game between the pipes for the Bruins.
He’s 3-0-0 in his last three contests with a shutout and is a perfect 8-0-0 on home ice.
— The Black and Gold look to make it four straight wins Sunday night when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
