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Bergeron ‘on track’ to make season debut Thursday

Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron

Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his NHL hockey game-winning goal with teammate Patrice Bergeron (37) during the overtime session against the Buffalo Sabres Thursday, Oct., 30, 2014, in Buffalo , N.Y. Boston won 3-2. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)

AP

The Boston Bruins (2-1-0) should get a nice boost for their home opener tomorrow night against New Jersey, as center Patrice Bergeron is “on track” to make his season debut, according to head coach Claude Julien.

“We’re hoping he’ll be in the lineup,” said Julien.

Bergeron missed Boston’s first three games with a lower-body injury. Today, he practiced on the Bruins’ top line between wingers Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

David Backes, meanwhile, dropped down to play right wing on the second line with veteran center David Krejci and 21-year-old Danton Heinen.

Backes, the Bruins’ big free-agent addition, centered Marchand and Pastrnak in Bergeron’s absence, and Backes, Marchand, and Pastrnak were very productive together.

But according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Julien said there was no chance that he’d break up Bergeron and Marchand, who’ve played almost exclusively together since Marchand’s rookie season in 2010-11, the year the B’s won the Stanley Cup.