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Patrice Bergeron appreciation post |
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It wasn’t the prettiest goal Patrice Bergeron has scored in over 1,200 combined NHL regular season and playoff games. But it was one of the smarter ones.
With the game tied at one in the second period of Wednesday’s eventual series clinching win for the Bruins, Bergeron altered the game in the Bruins favor, not with his skill, but with his hockey sense.
The final seconds of the middle stanza were ticking away as the Bruins were on their second power play of the afternoon.
Bergeron collected a loose puck behind the net, off the right shoulder of Hurricanes’ goalie Petr Mrazek. Taking a quick look over his own shoulder, Bergeron sensed no play could be made.
There was not enough time to pass the puck back around the back of the net to Brad Marchand who was at the far post behind the goal line.
A pass through the front of the net to Torey Krug wasn’t much of an option as the stick of Sebastian Aho or Jaccob Slavin would have disrupted the pass. And even if Bergeron worked his magic and got the puck through to Krug, the Bruins defenseman would have had to rush a shot in the final seconds, if able to get one off before the clock hit triple zero.
As Mrazek peaked over his shoulder to decipher what Bergeron was looking to do, the witty veteran forward noticed Mrazek hugging the post in a standing position.
A bit of a no-no for a goaltender.
Before Mrazek could guess what Bergeron would do next, the puck was bouncing off his left skate and into the Hurricanes net.
A goal with 3.5 seconds left, one that came from just inside the trapezoid below the Hurricanes goal line was the nail in the coffin for the ‘Canes and their season.
Mrazek’s reaction after the goal said it all.
“I saw that (Mrazek) was kind of – he stood up. He was standing up. So, I was just trying to catch him – throw it at his feet and see what happens,” said Bergeron.
“I knew that there wasn’t that much time left in the period. So, I said, why not try it, just because it was kind of a desperate play with a couple seconds left. I knew we couldn’t really set it up and have another shot, so I was just trying to put it on net and catch him standing up.”
With everything Bergeron brings to the table on a game-by-game basis—the skill, the smarts, the craft—it seems he’s always thinking two steps ahead of his opponents.
On his goal in Wednesday’s Game 5, he sure was.
Bergeron knew he had no play and knew throwing a puck on net with nothing but Hurricanes defenders sitting in front of it could harm the Bruins. There wasn’t enough time for the ‘Canes to collect a rebound and transition the other way for an odd-man rush.
“If you’re at the start of a power play, if you have time, if the clock is not winding down, you’re trying to keep the possession and keep the play going,” said Bergeron. “On that one with a few seconds left, I was just trying to, again, put it on net. Like I said, as I looked, I saw he was standing up and I was just trying to throw it on his feet. We got lucky on that one and I’ll take it.”
Bergeron calls it luck, he’s humble, of course he calls it luck. I call it smarts.
While Bergeron’s goal in Game 5 served as the game-winning and series-clinching goal, offense wasn’t all Bergeron chipped in with.
As he always does, Bergeron made a huge difference defensively.
For much of the series the Bergeron line was tasked with slowing down Carolina’s deadly top line of Teuvo Teravainen, Sebstian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. Even with Svechnikov missing Game 4 and 5 with a lower-body injury, Aho and Teravainen have enough firepower to make defending them a living nightmare.
Bergeron and Aho were on the ice together for 31:21 of five-on-five action in the series. In that span, the Bruins outscored the Hurricanes 1-0.
In the biggest game of the Hurricanes season, a game they needed to win to keep their season alive, Bergeron once again kept the Aho line from becoming any bit of an issue. With Aho on the ice against Bergeron for 8:34 of five-on-five ice time, the Hurricanes held the advantage in shot attempts (11-4) and scoring chances, (7-2) the Bruins held the shot advantage (4-2).
The most important stat of those Game 5 Aho vs. Bergeron five-on-five numbers: No goals for Aho and company.
“I think we’re well aware that this is the hardest game to get. We know that the opposing teams are going to throw everything at us and try to stay in the series” said Bergeron. “We’ve been there before in both situations and we know that those are the toughest and you need to make sure you take care of business and not let this drag. Obviously, it’s easier said than done”
Unless the Montreal Canadiens can claw their way to two more wins against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Bruins will have a date with the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Like Carolina, the Lightning are host to one dangerous top line.
But for Bergeron, the beat goes on.
And on.
And on.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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