As if the Bruins' picture didn't look sufficiently grim after Saturday's loss to the Washington Capitals left them facing an elimination game here yesterday, folks exiting the Garden after Game 5 had to wonder how much, if any, key center Patrice Bergeron would be able to play in Game 6.

Bergeron had a rough time Saturday. First, he caught a seemingly inadvertent elbow from the Capitals' Alexander Semin in the face, suffering a broken nose.

After missing some shifts due to that injury, Bergeron returned and promptly took a couple of hits from Alex Ovechkin that inflicted another injury to his upper body — believed to involve an arm or shoulder.

It was widely suspected he'd incurred a concussion, but that was not the case.