Bruins: Why Patrice Bergeron played Game 82 despite injury

Boston Bruins legend Patrice Bergeron was inured in Game 82, but coach Jim Montgomery gave the reason why he played.

The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers are all notched up in the East 1st round series of the NHL Playoffs. Game 3 is on Friday night in Florida, and the status and availability of Bruins center Patrice Bergeron have been one of the biggest storylines thus far.

Bergeron was injured during the final regular season game on April 13 against the Montreal Canadiens, causing quite an uproar among Bruins fans, especially since the top seed had already been locked up. As a result, Bergeron has yet to play in the series against the Panthers, and head coach Jim Montgomery opened up on that decision, per the Bruins Twitter page.

🎥 Coach Montgomery on the status of Patrice Bergeron for Game 3: "Bergeron did not make the trip…we believe Game 5 is likely." pic.twitter.com/Tvs4QsdIyZ

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 21, 2023

“Bergy wanted the last two games to ramp up, to get into a rhythm for the playoffs…Unfortunately, tweaked something in that last game, you know even in the hindsight we would still do it exactly the same way.”

Bergeron did not travel with the team to Florida, but Coach Montgomery said it is “likely” that he suits up for Game 5, which would be a massive boost for Boston.

The good news is that Bergeron was skating on Thursday morning, so it seems he is very close to returning to the ice.

Patrice Bergeron on the ice at Warrior this morning

📹: @Pats_Radio pic.twitter.com/1xQ4pmNxWl

— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) April 20, 2023

Bergoron's injury in the final game was questionable, but he wanted to ramp up activities. Moreover, others said that Bergeron wanted to play in front of his family and his dad for one final time in Montreal, although Montgomery did not answer that during the press conference.

My thoughts and prayers are with #NHLBruins Patrice Bergeron’s father who is battling cancer.
I now know and fully understand the decision for him wanting to player in Montreal in front of his family, his father possibly for the last time (we can only hope that isn’t the case).

— Shukri Wrights (@ShukriWrights) April 20, 2023

The Bruins will return home for Game 5 on Wednesday night, and it will be worth monitoring to see whether Patrice Bergeron returns to the ice in front of the home crowd.