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  • Player of the Week: February 2nd-8th

    Bruins Daily Player of the Week

    Player of the Week: February 2nd-8th

    Chris Chirichiello February 9, 2015
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    Patrice Bergeron was the Boston Bruins lone All-Star for a reason. His consistency and relentlessness in all three-zones make him such a great player.

    Over the last week, in a disappointing 1-2-0 stretch for the Bruins, Bergeron scored two goals-one against the New York Rangers and the other against the New York Islanders.

    In the Rangers’ game, Bergeron’s tally was a go-ahead goal at the time while his goal against the Isles was a tying goal. We bring this up because of the 14 goals the centerman has scored this season, 13 of them have tied the score for his team or put his team ahead. When the going gets tough, Bergeron buckles down.

    In 52 games this season, the 29 year-old has 35 points leading the way for Claude Julien’s squad while Carl Soderberg (33) and Loui Eriksson (31) are knocking at the door. Bergeron also leads the team in shots on net with 150 and his face-off winning percentage is among the best in the NHL.

    Bergeron is usually lethal at the dot, but Sunday night he had a tough time against the Montreal Canadiens only winning 48 percent of his battles. But, Saturday night against the Isles, Bergeron won 60 percent and last Wednesday, won an amazing 74 percent of the face-offs he took.

    It is amazing the consistency Bergeron is showing with the revolving door on the right-side of his line. One night it’s Reilly Smith, another night it’s Loui Eriksson or Daniel Paille. It doesn’t matter to Bergeron. He makes everybody better and that is why he is so great.

    What the average fan doesn’t see is how many of Bergeron’s shifts go against the best player on the opposing team. Saturday night, he took 16 of his 19 shifts against John Tavares. And for the most part, kept him contained other than his power-play goal that came on a rebound.

    The only stat that remains alarming is Bergeron’s presence on the ice when the B’s allow a goal. Over the last 10 games, No. 37 has sported a minus-4 rating, which is very uncharacteristic of the two-time Selke Award winner. On the other hand, Bergeron is matched up against opposing team’s top line usually. It’s nothing really to worry about.

    While the Black and Gold are fighting for position in the Eastern Conference, players other than Bergeron need to start showing consistency. Milan Lucic has started the trend while Eriksson is following suit. Smith has struggled as of late, but maybe it is time Julien puts him back with Bergeron where the chemistry is good.

    Bergeron and the B’s have 28 games left to try and climb the standings. His consistency is a trait that will continue during this final stretch. It is up to the others to follow suit.

    [Purchase tickets on TicketMonster to see Patrice Bergeron and the rest of the Bruins vs. Tyler Seguin and the Stars tomorrow night.] 

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