Bruins fans and players were holding their breath Wednesday when Patrice Bergeron took a puck to the face in the third period against the New York Islanders.
They didn’t have to hold it very long, though, as Bergeron promptly returned — a little bit bloody, at that — and barely missed any time in Boston’s 4-1 win at UBS Arena.
It’s never a good feeling watching your captain hunched over in pain and needing help to the locker room, and David Pastrnak “couldn’t believe” it when Bergeron returned to the bench just minutes later.
“(Wednesday) was not a great moment sitting on the bench when you know he had to leave,” Pastrnak told reporters after Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers. “(Taylor Hall) kind of turned towards me and said, ‘He’s back.’ I thought he was joking because I couldn’t believe that he’s back.”
“I looked and I was so happy that he was back and it wasn’t serious. But I couldn’t believe it.”
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after the win that it would be up to Bergeron if he wanted to play Thursday in the second game of a back-to-back if the X-rays came back clean. They must have done just that because not only was Bergeron in the lineup, he scored a goal in the 3-1 win over the Rangers to help the B’s sweep the New York road trip.
Bergeron wasn’t looking for any sort of rest after Wednesday, though he did tell reporters he thought he would be in far worse shape.
Major injury was avoided, though, and now Bergeron and the Bruins return to Boston for a few days off before welcoming the San Jose Sharks to TD Garden on Sunday night.
