Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron hits 1,000-point milestone

Bergeron got the secondary assist as he carried the puck through the neutral zone and passed the puck to Marchand as the Bruins were entering the offensive zone. Marchand then passed it to Jake DeBrusk, whose shot attempt deflected in the air off of Lightning forward Brandon Hagel and was caught by Marchand before he dropped the puck and proceeded to score. The goal gave the Bruins a 4-1 lead going into the second intermission.

Bergeron becomes just the fourth player in Bruins history to hit the 1,000-point milestone, with Ray Bourque’s 1,506, Johnny Bucyk’s 1,339, and Phil Esposito’s 1,012 rounding out the list. Bergeron becomes the 94th player in NHL history to reach the milestone as well, and the eighth active player, joining Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane, Evgeni Malkin, Anze Kopitar, Eric Staal, and Nicklas Backstrom. Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, Bergeron’s opponent in the game, is the next closest player to reaching the milestone at 992 points.

Bergeron achieves the feat after 1,235 games in the NHL across 19 seasons, all spent with the Boston Bruins. The former second-round pick in 2003 has scored 409 goals and dished out 591 assists to reach 1,000 points, including 314 on the power play and 46 shorthanded. What might be more impressive is that it all comes without ever hitting the 80-point total, although that’s mostly due to injuries, particularly in his career-best season in 2018-19 where he scored 32 goals, 47 assists, and 79 points in just 65 games.

Of course, Bergeron is better known for what he does on the other side of the ice. Considered one of, if not the best defensive forward in the league throughout his career, Bergeron has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward in the league, five times in his career, an NHL record. He’s also been nominated for the award for a record-setting 11 straight seasons from 2012 to 2022.