Patrice Bergeron ruled out for Bruins-Panthers Game 2 due to injury -- not illness
BOSTON -- Patrice Bergeron is making progress, but the Bruins captain will not play in Wednesday night's Game 2 against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery ruled Bergeron out for the contest after the team's morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena, noting that it is not an illness that is keeping the 37-year-old out of the Boston lineup. Bergeron is dealing with an injury, though Montgomery didn't go into any more detail on the ailment.
Bergeron did take the ice ahead of Wednesday's morning skate, but as he did on Tuesday, the centerman left before his teammates came out for the session.
Bergeron missed Game 1 of the series on Monday night, which Boston won 3-1 to take a 1-0 series lead. He left Boston's last game of the regular season in Montreal on April 13, departing in the first period due to an upper-body injury. He sat out all of Boston's pre-playoff practices, and missed Game 1 with the injury and an illness that has been making its way through the Boston dressing room the last few weeks.
While it appears Bergeron has kicked that illness, he's still dealing with the injury and isn't ready for game action.
Pavel Zacha will center Boston's top line on Wednesday night, as the Bruins look to take a 2-0 series lead over Florida.
