So when his linemates look up, Bergeron is right in line with them, ready to play offense just moments after wiping his hands from his defensive grunt work.

Because of the heavy defensive lifting his coaches ask him to perform, Bergeron is often the final forward to exit his own end. But Bergeron’s anticipation and awareness allow him to take the most efficient route out of the defensive zone and into areas where he can attack.

As a center, Patrice Bergeron serves as a third defenseman. His job is to skate down low in the defensive zone, support his teammates, close on loose pucks, and eliminate passing lanes to dangerous areas of the ice.


“It seems like he’s the last one out of our own end zone and the first one forechecking,” Reilly Smith said. “He’s a great player. He does a lot for this team.”

The Bruins’ expectations for Bergeron are always high. For the last four games, and perhaps for the next month, they’ll ask even more of their alternate captain. David Krejci could miss five more weeks because of the partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. This leaves the Bruins down a dangerous top-two center. Teams are even more eager to train their sights on Bergeron, Smith, and Brad Marchand.

Saturday’s 4-1 demolition of the down-and-out Coyotes at TD Garden proved that Bergeron, like always, answers the call of his employer.

Bergeron scored a goal and an assist. He has two goals and three assists in the four games without Krejci. It’s not that Bergeron (game-high six shots on net, 12 of 20 on the draw in 17:06 of ice time) elevates his performance when he’s asked to do more. He simply plays at a metronomically elite level just about every time he pulls on his jersey.


“Patrice is always a great player,” said coach Claude Julien. “We always talk about him because of what he brings. He brings the same effort night in and night out. He brings the same commitment to the game and the game plan night in and night out. That’s what makes him such a good player.”

In the first period, Bergeron submitted a trademark three-zone play. Dougie Hamilton went after the puck behind the net under Shane Doan’s forechecking heat. Bergeron skated back there, too, to support his teammate. Bergeron backhanded the puck out of danger off the left-side wall, where he knew Marchand would be.

Before Marchand settled the puck, Bergeron sprinted to the slot for a return pass he knew would come. This is what happens when you play with a linemate for five seasons. It’s what happens when your hockey IQ is through the roof, even if it’s slicked over with ice dams.

“Every single game, we have that play a couple times where I’m in the corner and he’s in the slot,” Marchand said. “I know he’s going to be there every time I look up. He finds a way to get open. It’s little things like that that allow us to continue to make plays and score goals.”

Marchand made his own clever play. He waited for Antoine Vermette to glide by before hitting Bergeron in stride. The outlet pass triggered the rush. Bergeron gave the puck to Smith on the right side. As Smith stayed wide, Bergeron plowed through Connor Murphy on a straight line to the net.


Bergeron’s middle drive created a passing lane for Smith. Marchand, meanwhile, had dashed through the neutral zone to gain separation from his backcheckers. After taking a cross-ice dish from Smith, Marchand canned a top-shelf snapper over Mike Smith’s glove at 14:13 to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.

Marchand delivered a beautiful finish. But what made the goal exquisite was the 200-foot approach Bergeron took to make it happen.

“He’s all over the ice. I don’t know how he does it,” Reilly Smith said. “He does a really good job of anticipating where the puck’s going to be. He bails me and Marsh out more times than not. It’s good to have.”

Like most coaches, Julien looks for good pairs when assembling his lines. Anaheim has Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom click in Washington. Nobody likes playing against Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.

Bergeron and Marchand are as good as any of them. Julien deploys them against the opponent’s best players. He tabs them on the penalty kill. He uses them to start more shifts in the defensive zone than any other pair.

They respond by delivering results. Bergeron (18-26—44) is the team’s leading scorer. Marchand (18 strikes) is tied with his center atop the goal-scoring column. During five-on-five play, they possess the puck more than they chase it.

Bergeron and Marchand are very good players. They become even more powerful when they’re together. The Bruins have no intentions of ever separating the two.


Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.