Iffy Bergeron suits up
New ailment creates mystery
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
SUNRISE, Fla. — Claude Julien stirred up a mystery yesterday with his vague comments about a Patrice Bergeron injury.
But the Bruins center was able to play last night and perform solidly in the B’s improbable 2-1 win against the Panthers.
“I felt all right,” Bergeron said. “I was a little sore, so we had a little maintenance morning. I took the morning skate off, and I was good enough to play.”
According to Julien, Bergeron suffered some unidentified injury after the B’s practice Monday. Rookie winger Sean Kuraly was called up from Providence on an emergency basis in case Bergeron couldn’t play. Kuraly got the phone call at 5:30 p.m. Monday, caught an 8:30 flight to Ft. Lauderdale and then was scratched.
The mystery stemmed from Julien saying Bergeron’s injury occurred off the ice, some time after practice. He said it was not an old injury.
“It’s not an old issue, it’s a new one,” he said. “It happened after practice, not during practice. He didn’t get in a fight, either.”
Some observers wondered, though, if perhaps this was the same ailment that caused Bergeron to sit out the first three games this season, and that Julien was being less than candid.
Fans can use their imagination about what happened and wonder anew why the Bruins are so weirdly averse to revealing even minor medical information.
Happy to be here
The 23-year-old Kuraly, acquired from San Jose in the B’s trade of goalie Martin Jones 16 months ago, was delighted to find himself on an NHL roster, even if he didn’t get to make his debut with the big club.
“I’m just excited either way. I’m just excited to be here,” the former Miami (Ohio) standout said. “Whatever happens is out of my control. So I’m just going to be ready to play and see what happens.”
Kuraly hasn’t shown much scoring touch with one assist in eight games in Providence but does qualify as a big, physical grinder.
“He was a hard competitor (in training camp),” Julien said. “Skated hard, competed hard. He’s a strong player, good at battles. We just had to polish his game a little bit. He’s got to play his game, do the things that impressed us.”
Tale of two centers
Brad Marchand would have played with David Krejci if Bergeron hadn’t played, and he talked about the difference in the two centermen.
“They’re different players,” said Marchand, who scored the game’s first goal on a penalty shot. “Krech slows the game down a lot better than anyone I’ve ever seen play. With Bergy, we try to play fast and quick. I can’t really slow the game down the way (Krejci) does.
“So I’m just going to skate around, and hopefully he gets it to me at some point.” . . .
The Bruins improved to 14-2-1 in their past 17 games against the Panthers. . . .
Late in the second period, Bruins winger Jimmy Hayes (6-foot-5, 215 pounds) had a rare fight, taking on 5-11, 181-pound Florida forward Derek McKenzie, who got the better of the action.
Matheson fits in
Former Boston College star defenseman Michael Matheson has settled in quickly with the Panthers, playing next to Aaron Ekblad on one of the top pairs.
“There’s been some good moments and some not-sogood moments so far,” the 22-year-old Matheson said. “It’s been a great learning experience the past month. I’ve enjoyed it, and I’ve been able to learn a lot from the older guys on our team. I’m trying to soak in every piece of information that I can.”
By taking heavy academic loads and summer courses, Matheson graduated from BC in three years with a degree in psychology.
“It was important to me,” he said. “You don’t know how long this will last, so it’s important to have a backup plan. Whether I ever use my degree or not, it’s great that down the road you can show your kids that you finished college. I have so much pride from my time at Boston College, and to say I actually graduated from there makes it even greater.” . . .
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