The Bruins captain missed the first two games of the opening round, including a 6-3 loss to the Panthers in Game 2 on Wednesday that tied the best-of-7 series 1-1, with an upper-body injury he sustained in the final game of the regular season on April 13.
He could play in Game 5, which would be in Boston on Wednesday.
Goalie Linus Ullmark is also a game-time decision for Game 3 on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, BSFL, NESN).
The best-of-7 series is tied.
Boston did not practice Thursday, but the 37-year-old center was the only player who skated.
"Obviously a real positive sign," coach Jim Montgomery said Thursday, "but I haven't talked to medical or athletic trainers about where he's at as far as coming with us on the trip.
"For me, we have a 'next man up' mentality all year long. I think our record's still 5-1-0] without him in the lineup. Everyone's thinking about the one loss right now, right? Because that's what's most recent. That's human nature, but there's a lot of confidence in our group about what we can do no matter who's in the lineup."
***[RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs Panthers series coverage]*
Despite having confidence earned by their 65-12-5 record and 135 points this season, each the single-season best in NHL history, Montgomery said changes need to be made for Game 3, more on the mental side than tactically. The Bruins had 15 giveaways in Game 2, compared to five by the Panthers.
"You can't give up those kinds of chances," Montgomery said. "We're going tape to tape; we're wearing black, not white. Unfortunately, it wasn't turnovers that typically have hurt us during the regular season. These were decisions we made with complete control and not under pressure.
"It's one thing if you make turnovers under pressure. It's another whole thing when your decision-making is just not up to snuff when you have time and space."
Montgomery pointed to Brad Marchand as a player who has stepped up in Bergeron's absence in regard to production and leadership. The 34-year-old forward scored in each of the first two games of the series.
Following Boston's 3-1 win in Game 1 on Monday, Marchand echoed his coach's thoughts in the rare instance of entering the postseason without Bergeron as his center.
"It's different for sure," Marchand said Monday. "But kind of the last few years, we've had that next man up mentality, and (forwards) Jake [DeBrusk] and [Pavel Zacha] and I have spoken a lot this morning and yesterday about how we wanted to play and [step] up."
Montgomery said he believes the Bruins need to focus on sticking to their structure, which he felt was lacking in Game 2, when they allowed four goals in the third period after the second period ended 2-2.
"We just talk about how we do things together," Montgomery said. "When we go off of our own page, it only adds to the frustration level because now things don't go well, and you're trying to do things on your own. Now you know it's 'you' instead of 'us' that needs to change things."
Montgomery said he still needed to discuss potential lineup changes with his staff; he did not name a starting goalie for Game 3, but said he would not shy away from returning to Linus Ullmark for what would be his third start in five days.
Ullmark allowed five goals on 29 shots in Game 2 after allowing one goal on 32 shots in Game 1. He had not started consecutive games since March 28-30; his longest consecutive games streak this season was six from Oct. 28-Nov. 10, and he started 48 games this season compared to Jeremy Swayman's 33 starts.
"I would be completely comfortable going back to [Ullmark]," Montgomery said. "He's done so a couple of times this year. Obviously he's done really well."
