DENVER — Patrice Bergeron’s participation Wednesday again began and ended with riding the stationary bike and taking a brief, non-taxing skate.

It’s not known when the Bruins No. 1 center will play again as he missed his third successive game Wednesday night – and watched Boston drop an uninspiring 6-3 decision at Colorado.

Bergeron is working his way back, patiently, from an undisclosed injury, though many observers assume it could be related to his sports hernia surgery after last season ended.

“He’s out there testing it again,” Bruins Coach Bruce Cassidy said. “There’s not a lot of newness to report on it. We’ll see how he reacts to being on the ice. If it goes well, he will go out again (today) and continue on that path until he’s ready to go.”

n The Bruins called up Danton Heinen from Providence. He played right wing on the fourth line with Tim Schaller and Sean Kuraly. The team sees Heinen as a skillful player capable of grinding, which he did when he drove hard to the net in the third period, setting up Schaller’s goal.

“We’ll see how that fits for him,” Cassidy said of Heinen, who was a star at the University of Denver. “I saw a lot of growth in his game in terms of not just being able to play with a skilled, line-rush line. He showed us that in the last (preseason) game.

Advertisement

“He was winning pucks below the goal line and making plays from there. That’s the type of line they are. He’ll add a little skill to that line, maybe a little finish, and he shouldn’t get in their way in terms of playing a north-south game.”

n Cassidy said backup goalie Anton Khudobin will play one of the weekend games, in Phoenix on Saturday or Las Vegas on Sunday.

“Yes,” Cassidy confirmed. “I don’t know which one yet. Give me a couple of days on that.”

FLYERS: Team founder Ed Snider will be honored with a 9-foot bronze statue outside the Wells Fargo Center.

Snider founded the team in the 1960s and remained chairman until his death in April 2016. The statue will be unveiled Oct. 19 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Flyers’ first home game.

CANADIENS: Veteran defenseman Mark Streit, 39, was placed on waivers.

Advertisement

DEVILS: Forward Michael McLeod had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and is expected to be sidelined 4-6 weeks.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

LIGHTNING 5, PENGUINS 4: Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since having right knee surgery last November, and Tampa Bay won at home.

Stamkos, who had five assists in three games this season, made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 3:49 of the second period.

Slater Koekkoek got his first two NHL goals, and Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning. Alex Killorn had four assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves.

PANTHERS 5, BLUES 2: Roberto Luongo moved into a tie for fourth with Curtis Joseph on the NHL career victory list with 474, making 37 saves to help Florida beat visiting St. Louis.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.