As Patrice Bergeron goes, so do the Boston Bruins in most cases. Well, through the team’s first nine games of the 2014 season, the two-time Selke Award winner hasn’t been himself and the Black and Gold are off to a very slow start.

Bergeron has one goal in nine games and the most uncharacteristic stat of them all, his minus-3 player rating. We are always so used to seeing No.37 carry the Bruins when times are tough, but right now he is going through a little funk.

Coming off a 30 goal season with a +38 rating, it is almost shocking to see Bergeron on the ice for so many goals the B’s have let up this season.

Also, his face-off winning percentage has been off as of late. For example, Bergeron won only 41 percent of his face-offs against the Sharks, 59 percent versus the Sabres and 52 percent against the Canadiens. We are used to seeing those numbers closer or above the 67 percent that he won against the Islanders Thursday night.

There is certainly nothing to worry about in Bergeron’s case because there is no injury. It’s just a bad stretch for one of the best players in the game and the second-line center knows it’s something he is going to fix.

“It’s definitely something I take a lot of pride in and something that can’t happen,” Bergeron said after his team’s 3-2 loss to the Islanders. “I’m here to, on both sides of the ice, I’m there to help the team and you can’t be on the ice for that many goals.”

Bergeron feels like himself. He just feels like things are not going his or the team’s way right now as you saw Thursday night against the Islanders.

“I feel like-it’s one of those things that the bounces are just not going your way,” Bergeron said. “Like we just talked about, the puck has got to get out and we’ve got to figure it out from there. That’s it. Tonight, we had our chances to put the puck in the back of the net and we’ve got to do the job as well.”

It hasn’t only been Bergeron though. The defense has been in disarray all season long large in part to the departure of Johnny Boychuk, the inexperience of Matt Bartkowski, the injury to Kevan Miller and now the loss of Zdeno Chara.

“It’s about communicating,” Bergeron said. “We should all know our job on the ice. It can’t happen. It’s not just one guy, it’s about everyone talking and sorting it out. Going back to the slot if we do find ourselves in trouble to get the puck out.”

Head coach Claude Julien was asked about the struggles of Bergeron and his line, but didn’t put blame on his franchise forward.

“Well, if we’re talking about one guy, Patrice, with all the hockey he’s given us, his line right now, I think there’s a guy, Smitty (Reilly Smith), that is still behind,” Julien said. “He missed the start of camp and he’s still trying to find his stride. I thought Brad (Marchand) played much better last game, so things are coming around with him, personally. You need three guys for a line to work well.”

Bergeron is too good of a player to stay in a funk like this for long. He will end up being a top 10 player in the league in player rating with 25 goals and 65 points. There is nothing to worry about. Once his line gets going and the defense tightens up, which will be tough without their leader and captain Chara, Bergeron’s numbers will start to point up. We can guarantee that. But, right now Bergeron is off just a little.