Talking Points: Bergeron Hits Big Milestone In Impressive Win

TAMPA, FL – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Monday night.

GOLD STAR: Brad Marchand scored the eventual game-winning goal, which was also the lamp lighter that brought Patrice Bergeron’s 1000^th career point and came up with the idea for everybody to leave the bench and celebrate their captain when he hit the special milestone moment. Everybody will be talking about Bergeron and his 1,000 NHL points and rightfully so after Monday night’s game, but there is something tremendously hockey wholesome about Marchand all these years later still looking up to his linemate and making sure that he’s always taken care of in those big moments. Marchand finished with eight shot attempts, two hits and three takeaways in 20:46 of ice time while scoring a big goal.

BLACK EYE: Brayden Point is a great player, but he got absolutely worked by the Bruins on Monday night. Point finished with a minus-3 and was kept off the board as was Nikita Kucherov while both players were exploited defensively by the Black and Gold. Point had two measly shots on net in 20:37 of ice time and was a big part of the problem for the Lightning on a night when they gave up five goals even though Andrei Vasilevskiy actually played a pretty good game. That tells anybody that a number of Tampa’s best players didn’t come to play in a measuring stick game against the Bruins.

TURNING POINT: For the Bruins it was simply getting out of the first period tied 1-1 after the Lightning had stormed the Black and Gold for the opening 20 minutes. The Bolts outshot the Bruins by a 14-7 margin and had the B’s on the run even as time expired in the first period with Nick Paul very nearly scoring as the best Boston Bruins players were caught napping on the ice. But it was a different story in the second as the Bruins scored a pair of goals within 31 seconds of each other and grabbed a stranglehold on the game that they wouldn’t let go of even as they slipped a little in the third period. A Nick Foligno net-front goal really seemed to get the Bruins spinning the right way and energized them in a dominant middle 20 minutes.

HONORABLE MENTION: Who else but Patrice Bergeron? The Boston Bruins center got to the 1000-point plateau in his NHL career and did it on a nice play where every forward on the line touched the puck before Brad Marchand buried it in front. He finished with four shots on net, three hits and a blocked shot to go along with 15-of-24 faceoff wins while playing exactly the kind of smart, responsible game that’s become his trademark over the years. Bergeron will long be remembered for his two-way play, his leadership and the way he was always a winning player, and this moment celebrating with his teammates will be one of the hallmark memories when he’s someday enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

You can just see the love and respect that his Bruins teammates have for Patrice Bergeron. Great hockey player. Tremendous leader. An even better person. One of a kind & one of the all-time greats. It’s been a privilege to watch all 1000 points pic.twitter.com/rZKLZ8w3cX

— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) November 22, 2022

BY THE NUMBERS: 1000 – the number of points for Bergeron after assisting on Brad Marchand’s goal, which makes him the fourth B’s player with 1000 plus points joining Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk and Phil Esposito.

A monumental milestone.

Patrice Bergeron has become just the fourth player in #NHLBruins history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

Congratulations, Cap! pic.twitter.com/2ntksBNk2h

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 22, 2022

QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s a tribute to him. If he had any kind of cheat in his game, he might have 1200 points already…or 1300. But he’s just so dedicated to playing the game the right way.” –Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery on Patrice Bergeron reaching the 1,000 NHL point mark in his career.