Patrice Bergeron’s injury devastates the Bruins playoff chances
Patrice Bergeron is another in a long list of injured players for the Boston Bruins, and their chances at a playoff spot in the competitive Atlantic division could suffer from it.
The pain just will not stop for the Boston Bruins, as another injury will set back their lineup as they try to keep pace with the surprisingly competitive Atlantic division. This latest injury, however, is the worst yet, as the Bruins have announced that top line center Patrice Bergeron will miss at least four weeks after suffering a rib and sternoclavicular injury.
For those of us who aren’t medical professionals, the sternoclavicular joint is the joint that connects the sternum and the clavicle in the upper body.
Bergeron suffered the injury in last Friday’s 1-0 OT loss to the Dallas Stars, when he was hit hard into the boards by Radek Faksa. Bergeron was sent home from the Bruins road trip back to Boston, and he will re-evaluated in four weeks. At the time of injury, Bergeron was leading the team in points with 26 points in 19 games as the quarterback of one of the league’s best lines, on pace for one the best seasons of his career.
This injury is every bit as bad as you think it is for the Bruins. Without Bergeron centering the top line, David Krejci will be forced to take over — but even that isn’t the worst part. Krejci is starting to age, but he’s still a decent player. It’s the center depth beneath him that’s a nightmare. Under Krejci, the centers go Joakim Nordstrom 3 points in 19 games, career high of 24 points), Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (unproven rookie with 4 points in 9 games) and Sean Kuraly (3 points in 20 games).
The biggest complaint following the Bruins for the last several years was that they were a top-heavy team that relied too much on their star forwards without depth scoring. Now, with Bergeron out, you can see what the problem is. If the Bruins are going to stay competitive, it needs to be David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand carrying more of the load, and the younger depth squad needs to start pulling it’s weight.
Sure, the offense is an utter mess without Bergeron, but that doesn’t even begin to compare to the beating the defense has taken ever since the start of this season. The Bruin are missing five of their starting defensemen at the moment, and it’s to the point where the defense playing right now looks like their AHL starting lineup in Providence. Torrey Krug is basically the only one left.
Charlie McAvoy has been dealing with a concussion since October, Zdeno Chara will miss 4-6 weeks with a knee injury, John Moore just suffered a lower body injury, Urho Vaakanainen also has a concussion, Brendan Carlso tweaked his upper body, and finally, Kevan Miller has missed the last 19 games but will return for their next game against Detroit.
Now worst of all, the Atlantic division has decided that it’s going to be competitive this year, and the Bruins are far from a lock for the postseason now. You’d think a team in sixth place in the league should feel pretty good about itself, right? Wrong. Four of the five teams ahead of the Bruins are from the Atlantic division.
The obvious teams like Toronto and Tampa Bay are leading the way with some injuries of their own, but that’s to be expected. It’s the surprise teams that could doom the Bruins. The Buffalo Sabres have finally become a threat this season, and have rattled off six straight wins to put them fourth in the entire league. Worst of all, the Bruins biggest rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, have shocked several teams by becoming a brutal team to play against, which has netted them 26 points and is good for fifth in the league. The Bruins are currently holding onto the second wild card spot with 25 points.
If these injuries become too much for the Bruins to handle now, they will be missing key points now that severely hurt their chance at a playoff come April. Even with Bergeron, at points the Bruins have had some horrible games that they should’ve won. With the Atlantic looking brutal to be in this season, Boston needs to stay afloat while it works through these injuries.
To keep pace, the Bruins have to figure out their issues now and learn how to survive without Bergeron or a majority of their defense, because it’s hard to shake the feeling that Buffalo and Montreal aren’t flashes in the pan, and the Florida Panthers are quickly recovering from their slow start and could be nipping at Bruins heels for their playoff spot any day now.
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Of course, it is still only November and talking playoffs at this point of the season is a little ridiculous and more of an educated guess than anything, but the Bruins cannot have that mindset. These points matter regardless of what time of year it is, because those one or two points you leave on the table in a game because there was no Bergeron or Chara could be the difference between playoffs or the golf course in April. Playing catch up is never the ideal scenario in the spring, and the only way to avoid is to win games now.