Coach Jim Montgomery said the center is day to day with an upper-body injury, not an illness going around the team.
The Bruins lead the best-of-7 series heading into Game 2 at TD Garden on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, TVAS, SNO, SNE, SNP, NESN, BSFL).
"He's hard to keep (out of the lineup). He's such a pro, he's such a competitor," Montgomery said Wednesday. "Obviously, everybody knows he wants to be in, but the great thing about him is his ability to put his own personal feelings aside and still lead our group like he does. That speaks volumes about his leadership quality."
Bergeron, who is Bruins captain, skated on his own prior to the morning skate Wednesday but will miss his second straight game after not playing in a 3-1 win in Game 1.
"He's obviously a guy that we're not gonna be able to replace on or off the ice, but with this group, it falls on all of our shoulders to try to help each other and communicate," forward Brad Marchand said. "Playoff time is emotionally high, and there's a lot of momentum swings so the more we can kind of control that on the bench and help each other out, it feeds the other guys."
Montgomery said the Game 1 absence was due to the illness that had swept through the Bruins dressing room in recent days. Bergeron was replaced as the top-line center by Pavel Zacha.
"And it's been probably 10 days to two weeks it's been going around," Montgomery said Tuesday about the illness. "It's just, unfortunately, someone else gets it when someone else we thought is done with it. … We've had guys, like
[Jakub Lauko
lost eight pounds when he had it. It's that recovery strength."
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Forward Jake DeBrusk said Bergeron had been around the team all day Monday leading up to the game.
"He was watching here in the room. Obviously, such a presence," DeBrusk said. "You could tell how bad he wants to be out there. He can't wait to get back in the mix. … It's one of those things where we want to do it for him. That was a main goal at the start of the year."
Bergeron hasn't played since the first period of the Bruins' final game of the regular season April 14 and did not take part in their practices Saturday and Sunday. He also did not take part in an optional practice Tuesday.
The 37-year-old, who considered retirement last summer, was third on the Bruins during the regular season with 58 points (27 goals, 31 assists) in 78 games.
Boston set NHL records for wins (65) and points (135) in the regular season, winning the Presidents' Trophy for having the best record in the League.
With Bergeron out for Game 1, the Bruins used a top line of Zacha at center with Marchand and DeBrusk. They also relied on their depth, honed all season and bolstered by the additions of forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Garnet Hathaway ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3.
DeBrusk scored a goal in Game 1, Bertuzzi had two assists and Zacha had one assist.
As defenseman Charlie McAvoy said, "We believe in one another and we believe that whoever it is, they're going to help pull the rope."
NHL.com independent correspondent Joe Pohoryles contributed to this report
