Brad Marchand loves him some Patrice Bergeron, and for good reason.
Bergeron, early in the third period of the Bruins’ Game 1 win over the Lightning, lifted Ryan McDonagh’s stick in front of Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, stole the puck and set up a Marchand goal that gave Boston a 3-0 lead. It was a quintessentially Bergeron play, one that proved huge in a victory that gave the Bruins a 1-0 series lead in their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup.
Here’s the play, in case you missed it:
After the game, Marchand explained what makes Bergeron, whom he deemed a future Hall of Famer, so special.
“He has a gift that – the way he reads the game and his stick positioning and his ability to read plays, there’s just very few guys in the league that have that ability on the defensive side of things,” Marchand told reporters. “Lots of guys are good offensively and can cheat and pick pucks off. He does it from a defensive standpoint. He creates so many opportunities out of our zone, through the neutral zone and on the forecheck, the way he did where he’s picking pucks and lifting sticks. Just his back pressure is incredible.
“That goal was all him, his forechecking there, a great read. That’s why he’s going to be a Hall of Famer.”
That’s some high praise, and also quite difficult to argue. At this point, it’s hard to envision Bergeron not joining the Hockey Hall of Fame.
However, for now, he and the Bruins are focused on Tuesday’s Game 2, which likely will see a motivated Lightning team eager to even the series.
