TORONTO — The Bruins took the ice at the Air Canada Centre for an optional workout late Saturday morning and Patrice Bergeron, their injured star pivot, was not an option for Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs.
“Day to day,’’ said coach Claude Julien.
Bergeron, injured earlier in the week during a workout in Brighton, has not been on the trip that began with a 6-3 Opening Night win in Columbus. The “day to day’’ update does not necessarily rule out Bergeron for Monday night in Winnipeg, but his absence here would make him an unlikely candidate to travel to Manitoba.
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Julien had little choice — or temptation otherwise — but to keep intact his red-hot No. 1 line, with David Backes centering Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. The trio clicked for 12 points (6-6) and 18 shots in the win over Columbus.
“We had a hot line, a lot of teams go through that at times,’’ noted Julien. “It’s great to have those guys. You know, [David] Krejci losing Backes [bump from right wing to center] had young guys on each side of him [Ryan Spooner and Danton Heinen]. You look at things for what they are . . . no doubt, you’d like to have more balance and I think that will come.’’
Heinen, the rookie winger from the University of Denver, fashioned a hot hand in training camp to secure a spot with the varsity. In the season opener, his stick went quiet, unable to squeeze off a single shot in 11:25 of ice time.
“We didn’t have too much possession time there,’’ said Heinen, whose linemates only landed one shot apiece on net. “But playing with those guys, I’ll just try to keep getting open and try to create something.’’
Once Bergeron is back — perhaps for Thursday’s home opener vs. New Jersey — he’ll pivot Marchand and Pastrnak. Backes then will flip back to Krejci’s right wing, opposite Spooner. Heinen most likely would fall to left wing on the fourth line with partners Dominic Moore and Riley Nash.
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Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.