Bergeron takes part in drills

BRUINS NOTEBOOK

With the Bruins returning home from a 1-2 road trip and more banged up now, they did get a whiff of good news yesterday.

Not only did David Backes (diverticulitis) participate in a full practice, but Patrice Bergeron, who missed the first five games with a lower-body injury, skated for most of the Warrior Ice Arena session. He wore a red non-contact jersey but took a few light bumps during 5-on-5 drills then called it a day before the 3-on-3s. It’s the most he’s done since getting injured in practice two days before the Oct. 5 season opener.

“Today was one of those days where I wanted to see where I was at, and we felt we were comfortable with doing drills and being with the team,” Bergeron said. “I didn’t necessarily know what kind of practice that (coach Bruce Cassidy) had for us, so I went along, felt good, so I kept going.”

Bergeron has not been ruled out for tomorrow’s game against Vancouver, though he does believe the injury is progressing. At practice, he centered what was expected to be the top line with Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork.

“I feel like it’s getting better, and I’m feeling stronger on the ice, more comfortable. Hopefully, game action is closer rather than later,” Bergeron said.

This is the second year in a row Bergeron was not able to start the season. He missed the first three games last season with an ankle injury.

“It’s tough. You want to be out there on the ice, and you want (to be) battling. Anything you miss is very disappointing,” he said. “I just want to stay positive and work as hard as I can to get back as quick as I can.”

Rask not angry

Goalie Tuukka Rask, usually very candid in his often wide-ranging postgame appraisals, raised some eyebrows after the 3-1 loss in Las Vegas when he said he was only going to speak about his goaltending.

He expounded on yesterday.

“It was one of those games where you’re not happy with your performance,” Rask said. “Someone just told me that it was being spun the wrong way, that it was me being mad at my teammates. That was not the case. It was one of those games where you want to talk about your that performance and what you need to do to get better. That’s kind of where I was coming from. I wasn’t mad at my teammates. I was mad at myself, and that’s that.

“Obviously, you always try to give a fair assessment about the game, but I think the biggest thing at this point that I have to worry about, and what everybody else does, I guess, is to worry about ourselves and start from that.”

Injury updates

There was no word on the prognosis of defenseman Adam McQuaid, who was hit on the leg by a shot, or center Ryan Spooner (lower body). Neither practiced yesterday.

The Bruins sent down Austin Czarnik and Danton Heinen. Heinen, who has three assists in three games, seems much more ready for the NHL than he did last season, when he made the team out of camp but was quickly sent down. He’s been far more assertive on the puck and should be a quick call-up if anyone else goes down, or if Backes, Bergeron or Spooner is not ready tomorrow.

“(Heinen) did play well. He did what was asked of him,” Cassidy said. “Right now, part of (him going down) is we feel some guys are a little closer, so we’ll see. If they’re not ready by Thursday, we may see Danton again. That’s a decision we’ll make as we get closer to Thursday.” . . .

Cassidy expects the team will get closer to a decision this week on Ryan White, who’s with the team on a tryout contract, after being able to get a better look at the winger in full practices.