BOSTON -- Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was angered for more than a few reasons last Thursday. On top of the nonsensical faceoff violations and penalties that disrupted any possible flow within that game, Bergeron was clearly bothered by the fact that he was unable to log meaningful five-on-five minutes with linemates Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork.

And the line’s stellar performance in Monday’s 4-2 preseason win over the Blackhawks helped explain some of Bergeron’s issues with being robbed of that opportunity, as it was in the first period -- after the Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from David Pastrnak and Jeremy Lauzon -- that the TD Garden crowd saw just how effective the B's new top-line trio can be.

With Marchand in a straight-up dogged pursuit of the Chicago puck-carrier as he emerged from behind Corey Crawford, Bergeron forced the turnover with a takeaway, dragged some defenders towards him to Crawford's right, and then dished to his right for a clean finish by an uncovered Bjork.

“He’s got that speed and the smart to get open and find the openings in the quiet ice,” Bergeron said of Bjork on the goal. “It was a great play by him just to get open and for me to see him. He made it really easy. He skates well, he made some great plays, we just need to keep talking and finding each other more and more on the ice.”

But it was just one play of a night that saw the line simply pester the Blackhawks all over the ice, finishing with three takeaways as a line, and with goals from both Bjork and Bergeron (although Bergeron’s marker came with the B’s on the power play).

Still a first-year pro, Bjork’s ability to read and react with similar poise and timing of Bergeron and Marchand is certainly impressive, especially against an up-tempo team like the Blackhawks, but it’s not exactly the shock to the system for the veteran Bergeron.

“I noticed it in practice – I know it’s practice but still – we were doing a lot of forechecking drills and we were finding ways to get the puck back by all of us,” Bergeron said of Bjork’s game. “Reading the play and being aggressive and he’s really good at getting the puck back, by being strong on his stick but also moving his feet and reading the play and getting to where the puck is going to get to.”

“For a young kid, that’s special, to be able to hang in and there and battle for those turnovers,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said of Bjork’s impact on the line. “That’s usually the part of the game they have to continue to grind on them. But he’s got a lot of that. Maybe that’s Bergy and March’s influence, I’d like to think they have some of that, because that’s their game. Marchy never quits. Bergy never quits. They’re going to be a hard line to play against if they are that dogged on the puck every shift.”

With results to their name, it’s clear that the Bruins have found something that can work with Bjork as the right-side presence to the all-world Bergeron-Marchand combination, and that this line will only get better with some more game action together.

“I think we had more ice time together, which helped us get more comfortable and helped me kind of learn their chemistry a bit more,” Bjork admitted. “Obviously, they have a ton of chemistry and they’re very easy to play with, of course, but it’s nice to get more shifts with them and kind of pick up on their patterns and stuff like that.”

“The competition will stiffen for [Bjork],” Cassidy acknowledged. “We’ll keep evaluating that. Still, he’s got skill, speed, and courage. He gets to the dirty areas. He’s hard to play against, second effort on pucks. It’s not one-and-done with him.”

In addition to a dominating night from the Bergeron line, B’s netminder Malcolm Subban provided a steadying presence in net, with stops on 24 of 26 shots against in the win.

This and that

- A sneaky great night for Malcolm Subban, and those have been few and far between for the 2012 first-round pick. Under immense pressure in the third period, Subban’s best work came with a three-save flurry that preserved Boston’s lead, and earned “Suu” chants from the Garden crowd.

“You get limited viewing in training camp, you only get a game, a game and a half, so you have to make the best of it and he did tonight,” Cassidy said. “He was very good. The first goal was a hell of a tip. He got caught pulling off the post a bit, but he was rock solid after that. The other goal that beat him was a great shot. We had some breakdowns at different times in the game. Specifically, late there where it could have been scary, but he did his job. He was good. Very pleased with him.”

Subban has outlasted Zane McIntyre in Boston’s main camp, and while it’s unlikely that the Bruins will carry three goalies to begin their year, it’s clear that this has been Subban’s best pro work to date.

- Interesting look from the Bruins tonight: With Torey Krug expected to be out for the first week-plus of the season, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy got looks on the club’s top power-play unit.

On a first unit that featured four of its five regular components from last season in Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, and Ryan Spooner, the Black and Gold finished their night with a 1-for-3 mark on the power play, and displayed excellent movement with either one of Grzelcyk and McAvoy out there.

“That’s the only thing,” Bergeron said when asked what changes with the left-handed Grzelcyk manning the point versus the right-shot of the 19-year-old McAvoy. “When the puck goes back to McAvoy he’s a threat to shoot a little more on the one-timer from [Ryan] Spooner. That’s the only difference. They’re both guys that can make plays move the puck, they both skate very well but they can also use the blue line, that’s usually tough as a PKer to defend. If you’re moving your feet if you’re using your speed but also moving the puck quick it’s not easy to pick your poison, I guess.”

- Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was supposed to play tonight, but was ‘under the weather’ and ultimately ruled out. The Bruins have two remaining preseason tilts and both are on the road. It’ll be interesting to see if the 6-foot-9 captain travels and plays before Oct. 5’s season opener.

Up next

The Bruins will play their penultimate preseason game Thursday night in Philadelphia.

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