The Bruins could certainly use Patrice Bergeron as they head to Florida tied 1-1 in their best-of-seven first-round series against the Panthers.
Whether they'll have him remains unclear. Bergeron, who has missed the first two games of the series due to an upper-body injury, skated on his own at Warrior Ice Arena for a second straight day on Thursday, but coach Jim Montgomery did not say if he would travel with the team to Sunrise.
"He skated just now, so that's obviously a real positive sign," Montgomery said late Thursday morning. "But I haven't talked to medical, athletic trainers about where he's at as far as coming with us on the trip or not."
Bergeron left last Thursday's regular-season finale in Montreal with the upper-body injury. His exit was termed "precautionary" at the time, but the Boston captain has not skated with the team since and could now be in danger of missing a third straight playoff game. He was also dealing with an illness over the weekend, but Montgomery clarified on Wednesday that his absence at this point is because of the injury, not the illness.
Pavel Zacha has filled in as the center between Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk and has done well there, but the second line has taken a hit without Zacha on it, as the combination of Tyler Bertuzzi, David Krejci and David Pastrnak has struggled mightily to get anything going at 5-on-5 against the Panthers.
Montgomery said on Thursday that Bergeron remains in good spirits as he works towards a return.
"That's a human being that doesn't get rattled. He's holding up great," Montgomery said. "His confidence gives energy to everybody else that everything's OK. That's just the way he carries himself. Good days, bad days, you wouldn't know it. He's in real good spirits mentally and physically. He just wishes he could be on the ice with us right now."
After a 6-3 loss in Game 2, the Bruins certainly wish Bergeron could be on the ice with them, too.
The team travels to Florida later Thursday ahead of Game 3, which is set for Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
