Stanley Cup Finals 2011: Patrice Bergeron Can Give Boston Bruins Emotional Lift

Patrice Bergeron leads the Boston Bruins with 62 shots on net in the postseason, yet has only tuned the mesh on four of those tries. That amounts to a 6.5 percent conversion rate, third-lowest among all Boston forwards ahead of only Gregory Campbell (5.3) and Shawn Thornton (a Blutarsky-esque 0.0).

Furthermore, Bergeron is goalless on 17 shots through the first five games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

But maybe this merely means that, with the specter of elimination donning 20 white Vancouver Canucks uniforms for Game 6, the Bruins’ alternate captain and longest-tenured skater is due to answer the call for a clutch performance.

Really, considering the immediate and more distant background behind No. 37, Bruins buffs could not ask for a much better scenario than Bergeron simultaneously breaking his slump and either spawning or adding to a Boston lead.

First and foremost, he is the only member of the team to have endured three playoff eliminations on home ice (last season, the year prior, and 2004 versus Montreal). Therefore, he should have an extra ounce of incentive to prevent a recurrence of that experience, let alone when the cup is on hand.

And from a sheer spiritual standpoint, black and gold longevity alone should make the sight of Bergeron scoring in a game like this, let alone in the wake of a personal skid, particularly encouraging to the Bruins fan base.

Bergeron’s most recent tally was on a shorthanded bid in an eventual fall-from-ahead, 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of the conference championship. That was his second goal of the day, which splashed a personal drought of eight goalless games. All the more impressive given it was his second appearance since recovering from a mild concussion.

But since then, in a span of eight games and two periods, he has pelted an opposing goaltender 23 consecutive times without cracking the code.

All that said, there is no denying the starting centerman’s unwavering hunger and determination. Recent stat sheets confirm Bergeron is not satisfied with merely being the team’s primal playmaker (14 playoff assists, including one apiece in Games 2, 3 and 4).

And the very latest game offers proof that he would not mind thawing out his frosted twig and getting his mates going with an icebreaker goal.

In last Friday’s 1-0 falter at Rogers Arena, Bergeron issued a team-leading six stabs, including five on the power play, all of them long before Maxim Lapierre beat Tim Thomas in the third period. The very first shot of the game was a deflection off Bergeron’s stick with 2:47 off the clock and the Bruins trying to punish Raffi Torres a little extra for his tripping infraction.

Bergeron was the only Bruin to test Vancouver backstop Roberto Luongo on the team’s second power play of the night, discharging a slapper from 30 feet at 7:12 of the first period. Less than eight minutes later, with former teammate Andrew Alberts in the bin, he tilted another deflection in Luongo’s direction, then tried his luck on his rebound.

Had one of those four gone in, it likely would have disabled the vocal cords of the Canucks congregation and smudged Luongo’s spirits. On the flip side, it would have injected a little more conviction into the Bruins' power-play brigade.

Odds are Vancouver will make sure not push its luck that way again Monday night. But if Bergeron, whether it is at even strength or in a special teams’ sequence, could grant his team an early 1-0 lead in any fashion, the benefits would be bottomless.

Even if Luongo is not fazed, Bergeron himself will at least be invigorated by his first goal in more than three weeks. The TD Garden crowd will likewise be stimulated all the more, if only by a dollop, than if any other home skater scores.