Patrice Bergeron broke his nose against the Nashville Predators but didn't want to miss any time to have it reset.
Now that the Boston Bruins had a few days off between games, he was able to do just that.
Bergeron missed Monday's practice to take care of his nose. He returned Tuesday sporting a full face shield on the ice. The center said he's "feeling good" and "ready to go" for the Bruins' three-game Canadian road trip.
"I'm feeling good, ready to go," he told reporters at Warrior Ice Arena. "No issues."
Bergeron is no stranger to having his nose broken, so it hopefully won't be an issue as it fully heals.
"A good six, seven times probably," Bergeron said of how many times he's suffered a broken nose. "It's been going on for a while."
The 36-year-old typically is a positive person, and he continued to showcase that side of him with a little joke.
"I knew we needed to do that. Just not enough time before the Tampa game (to have it reset)," Bergeron said. "It's more for breathing purposes. I think the modeling career is over by now anyway. That wasn't the reason why, but now that we had a few days, it was kind of a good time to do it."
Bergeron will have to wear the full face shield until his nose is fully healed, something he tried to get out of doing.
"I tried to work my way out of it, but I couldn't sell it good enough to the doctors," he said. "I've got to wear that, probably, for a few weeks."
Bergeron, his new face shield and the rest of the Bruins are back in action Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks. Puck drop from Rogers Arena is set for 9 p.m. ET, with coverage on NESN beginning at 8 p.m. with "Bruins Pre-Game Shootout Live."
