BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron will miss his third straight game with a lower body injury when the Bruins take the ice against the New York Rangers on Friday afternoon at TD Garden, and it will be the fifth game out of the last seven that the 34-year-old has missed for the B’s.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said prior to Friday’s game that Bergeron is still considered day-to-day, but that he hasn’t skated since last playing a week ago and racking up four assists against the Minnesota Wild.
Perhaps there will be a big turnaround when the B’s take the ice for Saturday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, but at this point it doesn’t feel like it’s looking too good for Bergeron to suit up against the Montreal Canadiens at home on Sunday either.
“I believe it’s getting better, but at what rate is it getting better? I don’t know,” said Cassidy, who then added a little levity to the foreboding injury update. “I invited him over for [Thanksgiving] and he said ‘no.’ "
The good news is that the Bruins are 3-1-0 and have scored a whopping 17 goals in the four games without No. 37, so to this point it hasn’t really hurt them to be without their best two-way player as he struggles with a nagging lower body issue.
With Bergeron out of the lineup along with Brett Ritchie, the B’s will go with their lineup from Tuesday’s game in Montreal with Jack Studnicka in as the second-line center, and Connor Clifton also jumping into the lineup on the back end.
Jaroslav Halak gets the starting nod for the Bruins as they look to avoid giving Tuukka Rask double-digit starts for the month of November.
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