Somehow, the Bruins had more than managed to handle first line center Patrice Bergeron's latest absence, with wins in nine games and points in all but two of the 13 games that Bergeron missed due to a broken foot suffered on a blocked shot late last month.
But it took just over 60 minutes of Sunday's 2-1 overtime win in Minnesota to remind you how utterly dominating the B's first line becomes with its most important piece on the ice, and how much better life is for the rest of the B's lineup with Bergeron in it.
Back to the middle of a superstar line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak on the wings, Bergeron welcomed himself back to action with a primary assist on a Pastrnak goal in the second period, wins on 14 of his 23 battles at the faceoff dot, and a secondary assist on Marchand's overtime goal in 19:08 of time on ice.
No look pass from Patrice Bergeron, 30th goal of the season for David Pastrnak 1-0 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/GBOfpmNYzJ
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) March 26, 2018 Naturally, though, Bergeron's impact went beyond the assists and faceoff wins.Matched up against the Mikko Koivu line for the majority of the night, Bergeron's line picked up right where they left off prior to Bergeron's injury, and straight-up made life hell for Minnesota's top talents before Koivu broke through in the third period. Oh, and that Koivu goal, fittingly, came with Bergeron's line on the bench, too.
In other words, Bergeron was exactly who he was before the injury. You could make the case that that alone is the biggest positive takeaway from this contest.
But Bergeron's return also meant that David Krejci's line, with Ryan Donato and Brian Gionta on the wings, was freed up from facing top defensive pairings. This led to what was perhaps their most noticeable game during this three-game road trip, at least in the offensive zone. And it also meant that Riley Nash, who had done an admirable job trying to replace Bergeron on the B's first line, slid back into his more natural role as the Black and Gold's third-line pivot. Nash dominated in this role, too, in a solid 15:28 of play. And it's no secret that this kind of depth, especially down the middle, is just part of what makes the Bruins such a difficult matchup for the rest of the league.
The Bruins also made good on Saturday's Tampa Bay loss by successfully gaining on the Atlantic-leading Bolts with this victory, moving within two points of the Lightning, with one game in hand and a Thursday head-to-head at TD Garden on deck.
Now, to make things really interesting, the Bruins just need to get David Backes, Jake DeBrusk, Rick Nash, Zdeno Chara, and Charlie McAvoy back in their lineup.
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