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Watch: Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron takes deflected shot to the face; returns to game minutes later
"The admiration I have, and everybody has, for him coming back ... is immense."
Patrice Bergeron has taken plenty of punishment over the years.
In 19 seasons in the NHL, the Bruins captain has endured cracked ribs, collapsed lungs, and countless hours in the dentist’s office.
But amid his various body parts that have sustained damage on the ice, Bergeron’s beak might sit at the top of the list.
In the third period of Wednesday’s win over the Islanders, Bergeron’s nose once again bore the brunt of a screaming volley of vulcanized rubber — fired off the stick of David Pastrnak.
Just four seconds into a power-play bid for Boston, Bergeron was dropped to the ice at UBS Arena, with a one-time blast from Pastrnak hitting the center in the face off of a deflection.
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The optics weren’t good for Bergeron, who skated right down the tunnel with a towel over his face.
But just minutes after exiting the frozen sheet, Bergeron was right back on Boston’s bench. His shattered nose plugged up with gauze, the future Hall of Famer logged another three shifts and 2:18 of ice time in Boston’s 4-1 win on Long Island.
“I know the puck got deflected, but it hits him up high in the face. The admiration I have — and everybody has — for him coming back to try and help the team win after that is immense,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of Bergeron. “We’re hoping all the X-rays come back good.”
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The Bruins took care of business during Bergeron’s brief time away from the game. Just 37 seconds — fittingly — after play was stopped, Brad Marchand cashed in on the power play, snapping a shot into twine off a feed from Pastrnak.
“It was big,” Marchand said of Boston’s special-teams play. “Obviously you’re nervous when a guy goes down like that. Great to see he’s ok. But it’s been a strength of our group all year.
“We’ve always been strong on the PK and the [power play] has been really hot lately. So [we] need that to continue. Definitely something that you need to win games down the stretch and coming into the playoffs.”
The 35-5-4 Bruins will need Bergeron to continue to ice his banged-up nose overnight. Boston will be back at it on Thursday with another road matchup against the Rangers. Puck drop at Madison Square Garden is set for 7 p.m.
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