Patrice Bergeron was only 19 when he spent an important season with the AHL's Providence Bruins. On Sunday, he returned as a veteran, helping a young prospect learn the ropes.

PROVIDENCE – Ten years ago he was a teenager, still learning. It was only his second year of pro hockey, his second year living away from his home in Quebec, his second year speaking a second language.

On Sunday afternoon, Patrice Bergeron played a game in Providence for the first time since that 2004-05 season and had an eager young player – 21-year-old Seth Griffith – on his line.

“I still feel young,” Bergeron, now 29, said before the Bruins’ Black & Gold Game at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, “but it’s one of those things. It happens fast, you know? It’s already 10 years since I’ve played here.”

Bergeron actually reached the NHL at age 18 in 2003-04, but was assigned to Providence for the 2004-05 lockout and continued his development in an American Hockey League that overflowed with young talent that season.

“I have great memories of playing here,” said Bergeron.

“I learned a lot that year. I got to come and play in a very competitive league, but I was also very close to Boston. That year helped me keep learning English. It was definitely a plus to be here.”

Sunday’s sold-out scrimmage wasn’t such a positive experience, as Bergeron’s team fell to the Black squad, 6-1. But he, fifth-year linemate Brad Marchand and Griffth, a second-year pro getting a chance in the absence of unsigned Reilly Smith, had their share of scoring chances.

“Seth is a young player the Bruins definitely like,” Bergeron said. “He seems to be a very smart player.”

Marchand, who hit a crossbar in the first period, thinks the same thing.

“He was all around the play, making nifty little passes,” Marchand said. “He seemed to always be in the right spot.”

Griffith, a fifth-round draft choice (No. 131 overall) in 2012, turned pro last season after three full years with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. The 5-foot, 9-inch, 192-pounder scored 78 goals in 122 games his last two OHL seasons, and put up 20 (third on the team) for Providence as an AHL rookie last year.

“I thought Griffith acquitted himself well with that line,” B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli said. “He makes good plays, he makes smart plays.

“He doesn’t have to hang onto the puck a lot. I know (Marchand and Bergeron) like to move it, and like to move in small spaces. Griff does that.”

The Bruins also got a first look at Loui Eriksson as David Krejci’s right wing. Eriksson is considered a front-runner to replace Jarome Iginla, who scored 30 goals last year on a line with Krejci and Milan Lucic.

“He’s a pretty smart player,” Krejci said of Eriksson. “He kind of knows where I am on the ice. … A couple times I didn’t expect him to give me the pass on the tape and he managed to get the pass through. That’s great.

“Hopefully we’ll get to play again together and we’ll get some more chemistry, create even more scoring chances than we had (Sunday) and go from there.”

AROUND THE BOARDS

Winger Tyler Randell was Sunday’s offensive star, with two goals and an assist. Defensemen Chris Casto and Zach Trotman, center Alexander Khokhlachev and winger Jared Knight also scored for the Black team, while Alexander Fallstrom scored the White team’s lone goal with 2:05 to play. … First-round draft pick David Pastrnak, whom Chiarelli said is day-to-day with a shoulder injury, didn’t play. Lucic (wrist surgery) and Gregory Campbell (core injury) were also held out for health reasons.