The Boston Bruins have missed Patrice Bergeron during his extended absence to open the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
No, the B's aren't exactly scratching and clawing their way through the opening-round series against the Florida Panthers, but to a man the Black and Gold have described how much of an impact he has on the way they play. In the lone loss of the series, which came in Game 2 at TD Garden, Boston head coach Jim Montgomery described how he felt his team didn't play "Bruins hockey."
Well, Bergeron kind of is Bruins hockey, so it's not hard to see why.
As the Bruins prepare for his possible -- and likely -- Game 5 return, teammate Taylor Hall went into more detail.
"He's so important for us off the ice," Hall said following Wednesday morning's practice, per team-provided video. "Obviously, being our captain and our leader and our emotional guy, but on the ice as well. He's still such an amazing player and has such an impact.
"Especially if we're on home ice tonight and he can matchup with (Matthew) Tkachuk, or whoever it may be, and make life hard on a guy like that. Tkachuk's been a huge part of this series for them. In spite of the fact that we have the (3-1 series) lead, he's been very impressive. So, if Bergy is in tonight I think that will be a very big thing for us."
The specific mention of Tkachuk is an interesting one, as he has been all over the place during the series. The 25-year-old has been his typical self in the scorer's sheet, registering two goals and three assists, but has also been the epitome of a pest for the Panthers. Whether it be taking cheap shots at Garnet Hathaway and Brad Marchand or drawing the ire of Linus Ullmark, the All-Star has done his best to get under Boston's skin.
The Bruins have done a solid enough job of ignoring the antics, but there's no doubt the presence of Bergeron could help further negate Tkachuk's impact between the whistles.
Oh yeah, he's also made a name for himself for being a prolific playoff performer.
Bergeron has tallied 127 points across 167 total postseason games. There was that whole 2011 Stanley Cup win as well. So, yeah, it's safe to say Bergeron's eventual return will provide a spark for the Bruins. We just now know exactly how they expect it to.
