It has been a long time since anything so good happened to theBruins and their fans, and in the end the gift had to be wrapped ina black bow.
Amid the excitement and satisfaction surrounding Boston's 5-1 winover the Flyers last night, good for a ticket to the Stanley Cupsemifinals for the first time since 1992, the Bruins lost starcenter Patrice Bergeron early in the third period when he was felledby Flyers right wing Claude Giroux.
Looking woozy and glassy-eyed after getting smacked to the ice inthe left circle in the Bruins' zone, the 25-year-old Bergeron gainedhis feet after a few seconds and skated slowly but deliberately tothe bench.
Without stopping, the dogged center, by far the club's MVP in thepostseason, made his way straight to the dressing room - stillunder his own power - and was not seen for the rest of the night.
What's wrong with Bergeron? Virtually everyone in the buildingasked that question in the wake of his absence. The coaches andplayers wouldn't offer anything on the subject, to the point, infact, they sounded as if they were briefed to say nothing, which wasexactly the substance of coach Claude Julien's postgame report.
"I don't know . . . I have no update," said Julien, virtually onehour after the game ended, which also was nearly one hour, 40minutes after Giroux dropped Bergeron. "Basically, I can't give youm ore than that."
We may live in the Internet era, when answers are quick andaccurate, but the Bruins still live a rotary phone era when it comesto dispensing news about injuries to key players. Bergeron has beena huge part of Boston's postseason success, his presence andperformance all the more critical with the loss in January of No. 1center Marc Savard.
So, left to speculate, we are left to conclude that Bergeron atthe very least followed standard NHL protocol for a suspectedconcussion. To wit: He would have headed to a "quiet area" forrudimentary neurological testing, including questions about how hefelt, what he remembered, etc. At that point, if he exhibited anyconcussion symptoms, both Bergeron and the team would have beenapprised that he was done for the night. The game ended some 36minutes after Bergeron exited, and then he was nowhere to be seen inor around the dressing room after the victory.
None of that can be interpreted as good news, either forBergeron, who lost virtually all of the 2007-08 season due to asevere concussion as the result of a hit from then-Flyers defensemanRandy Jones, or for the Bruins, who have needed the better part of20 years to post eight wins in a postseason.
Brad Marchand, the left winger on Bergeron's line, said he didn'tsee the play. He also said he hadn't talked to Bergeron as of some20 minutes after game's end.
"You're always worried when someone leaves the team like that,"noted Marchand. "But we have a lot of depth."
With Bergeron gone, Chris Kelly, the pivot on the No. 3 line,moved up to center Marchand and Mark Recchi. Gregory Campbell movedup from the No. 4 line to join Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder.
Seconds after Bergeron left the ice, Johnny Boychuk smacked homea sizzling one-time slapper for the 2-1 lead and what proved to bethe winning goal.
Kelly, still with his prior linemates at the time, won a drawagainst Jeff Carter in the left circle and Johnny Rocket dropped thehammer from above the right circle. Almost as fast as Bergeronexited, the Flyers all but left the building. Perhaps there is somepoetic justice in that, but it's highly possible the Bruins will bewithout Bergeron for at least the start of the next round vs. theTampa Bay Lightning. Not much poetry in that.
The shoulder check by Giroux, a 23-year-old third-year player outof Ontario, came after Bergeron released the puck in his defensiveend. It wasn't a horribly late hit, but it was a shade late, and itappeared to catch Bergeron unaware, even though Giroux hit himstraight on.
Bergeron and Giroux entered the night with 12 points apiece inthe postseason, leading their clubs. By night's end, Bergeronfinished an absentee winner and Giroux joined his teammates forfarewell handshakes at center ice.
"I saw him down, but I didn't see the whole play," said Bruinsgoalie Tim Thomas. "He was down, so of course I was worried."
Asked if he felt Bergeron looked woozy, Thomas said, "I was stillwatching the play [as Bergeron departed], so I don't know if helooked woozy or not."
Team captain Zdeno Chara fell right into the company line, notingthat he didn't see the hit and didn't know anything about Bergeron'sstatus. Ditto for Shawn Thornton.
The combination of what people saw, Bergeron's history ofconcussions, and the obvious news blackout all added up to alingering feeling that Bergeron likely will need a few days offskates and then he'll have to wait to find out how quickly he healsfrom his latest knock to the head.
Rarely, if ever, do things come easily for the Black and Gold.The sweep of the Flyers was that rare moment in time when thingsclicked, fell into place, and the team that hasn't won a Cup since1972 breezed into the Eastern Conference finals.
After an initial stumble in the opening round vs. the Canadiens,they survived a Game 7, and showed some impressive strut and pluckagainst the Flyers.
But now what? If Bergeron is out for Round 3, a visit to the Cupfinals goes from possible to improbable. The obvious plug-in isrookie Tyler Seguin, who hasn't suited for a single minute ofpostseason play and had trouble staying on Julien's radar late inthe regular season. Just as there is no suitable substitute forSavard, there also is none for Bergeron.
We'll find out more late this morning when general manager PeterChiarelli addresses the media at the club's Wilmington practicefacility. For now, all we know is that Bergeron quietly made his waydown the runway, probably with his head addled once more, and wasn'tseen or heard from again.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont @globe.com.
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