Bergeron rises up ranks of Bruins greats with latest hat trick

Patrice Bergeron has found his scoring touch to begin 2018.

The Boston Bruins center recorded a hat trick in a win over the New York Islanders on Thursday, only five games after notching his first career four-goal game (Jan. 6 vs. Carolina).

These kinds of outbursts are rare for Bergeron, who had only one career hat trick heading into the new year. He's been a consistent scoring threat over the course of his career, however, averaging 24 goals for every 82 games played.

The latest three goals gave him 278, pushing him past Wayne Cashman for seventh on the Bruins' all-time list - 11 behind Ken Hodge.

"I had a chance to learn from Cash my first few years," Bergeron said postgame, according to the Bruins' Twitter account. "He was a great person, I've heard only great things about him as a player and the way he played the game. It's always great to hear and great honors.

"But at the same time, I'm really worried about what I can control, which is helping my team get some more wins."

The Bruins are indeed winning games, having picked up at least a point in their past 15. Boston now sits only five points back of the NHL-leading Lightning, with one game in hand.