Patrice Bergeron Didn’t Travel With Bruins, When He Could Return

Patrice Bergeron will be looking on from Boston as the Bruins try to regain control of their series with the Panthers in Florida.

Bergeron, who is dealing with an upper body injury, didn’t make the trip with the team to Florida for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoff first-round series on Friday night. It doesn’t appear he’ll be joining the team in the Sunshine State anytime soon, either.

According to NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Florida the Bruins think it’s “likely” they’ll have their captain back for Game 5 when the series returns to Boston.

The Game 3 revelation is not entirely surprising. Montgomery on Thursday said he didn’t know whether Bergeron would travel, and he said as much an hour or two before the team was set to fly south. Bergeron has been on the ice recently, skating before the team on both Wednesday and Thursday.

Circling Game 5 as a return date does make some sense. The Bruins and Panthers will play Friday and Sunday in Florida before returning to Boston, and they’ll have two days off between Games 4 and 5, giving Bergeron a little more time to heal up.

The Bruins recalled Oskar Steen from Providence on an emergency basis Thursday ahead of the trip.