Bergeron likely to play for Bruins in Game 5 against Maple Leafs

BOSTON -- Patrice Bergeron is likely to play for the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Bergeron missed Game 4, a 3-1 win by the Bruins, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Thursday with an upper-body injury and was listed as day to day. But the 32-year-old center took part in the morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena on Saturday, taking his usual spot between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak on the top line, and in his regular spot on the first power-play unit, all indications that he will play in Game 5.

"He looked good this morning," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He was fine in pregame skate. So I anticipate he'll play. We'll make that decision after warmup, but it's looking good."
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The Bruins come into the game with a chance to close out the best-of-7 series, which they lead 3-1.
"Right now I'm feeling good," Bergeron said. "Hopefully it stays like that. I want to play tonight, so we'll see what happens when I talk to the training staff when I get to the rink."
Bergeron was a late scratch Thursday, with the decision coming just before warmups. The only indication before the game was that center Riley Nash had taken some rushes with the top line at practice Wednesday in Toronto.
"The doctors and training staff thought it was better for that game," said Bergeron, who added that he had shown up at the rink hoping to play.
Asked if the injury was something the medical staff had been managing or whether it popped up, Bergeron said, "It's something that popped up. I'm definitely not going to get into more details."
Nash, who usually plays center on the third line, took Bergeron's spot on the top line in Game 4. The line scored the game-winning goal off a defensive-zone face-off that ended up in a 2-on-1 with Pastrnak passing to Marchand for the goal.
"It speaks a lot about the depth that we have, guys always find a way to step up and it's something that we've been through many times this year," Bergeron said. "I was definitely confident, but at the same time you're a lot more nervous when you're not playing a game than when you're playing."