Patrice Bergeron ‘did not travel with the Boston Bruins to Florida’, likely out until Game 5

Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron did not travel with his teammates to south Florida as he continues to recover from an upper-body injury.

The forward missed Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers due to an illness, but he sat out Game 2 with an injury he picked up in the regular-season finale against the Montreal Canadiens.

According to Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, it’s ‘likely’ that Bergeron will be making his return to the team when the series heads back to Boston for Game 5.

Without Bergeron, the Bruins were able to put up a strong performance in Game 1, beating the Panthers 3-1.

However in Game 2, Bergeron’s absence was felt – as lost faceoffs and plenty of turnovers contributed to a 6-3 beatdown by Florida.

Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron did not travel with the team to Florida after an injury

The Bruins captain sustained the injury in the regular-season finale against Montreal last week

Bergeron is the Bruins’ second-best all-time goal scorer and points scorer in the playoffs

The captain made the unorthodox choice of playing in the final regular season game, despite the Bruins being well into a playoff spot after winning the Presidents’ Trophy for winning the most points this year. The Bruins also set records for the most points ever earned in a campaign as well as the most wins in a season.

But Bergeron, the 37-year-old Quebec native, took most of the summer to decide whether or not he would come back to playing hockey – eventually inking a one-year deal. 

Faced with what might be his final game in his home province – and with his father, who is battling cancer, in the audience – Bergeron decided to play one last time in front of his most heated rivals.

Unfortunately for him, he picked up that injury and will have to watch on from home as the Bruins try to claw their way back in the series. 

Bergeron is third on the Bruins’ all-time point-scoring and goal-scoring lists. He’s also second on Boston’s all-time list for points and goals in the playoffs.  

They may have to do it without their star goaltender Linus Ullmark, who is listed as day-to-day and might not be in the net for Game 3. If not, it’ll be occupied by Ullmark’s fellow Jennings Trophy-winning compatriot Jeremy Swayman.

Puck drop for Game 3 is set for 7:30pm ET from the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.