The first regular season edition of three up and three down is upon us.

Following a 2-1 road trip, the Bruins return home to prepare for their opening night matchup. They should have some good news in the form of Patrice Bergeron returning to practice as early as Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena.

Without Bergeron, the Bruins managed to take four of a possible six points on the road, despite allowing the first goal in all three games. Which Bruins trended in the right direction and which players trended downward in the early going? Let’s take a look.

Three up

David Pastrnak:

An obvious choice for this week, the third-year Bruin is making an immediate impact. Through three games, Pastrnak leads all Bruins skaters with four goals, two of which came on opening night against the Blue Jackets.

Adding some muscle in the off-season, the 2014 first rounder is rarely being outmatched early on in puck battles along the boards. His mistakes have been minimal, his defense is improving and his offensive creativity hasn’t missed a beat as seen with his game winner against the Jets on Monday night.

With 100 career NHL games under his belt, Pastrnak has gotten a good taste of the NHL life during his first two-plus seasons. At this rate, his progression should continue into year three.

David Backes:

Although Backes’ attitude embodies the Bruins philosophy, there was a little skepticism this off-season when he signed his five-year contract and with good reason. The former Blues captain came off a year where he tallied 45 points — his lowest point total since his second year in the league in 2007-08 — and saw his role go from a top-six player to a third line center during St. Louis’ run to the Western Conference Final.

On opening night, the move paid some early dividends as he tallied two goals and one assist.

Though he didn’t find himself on the scoresheet in Toronto, Backes showed that energy again when he dropped the gloves with Nazem Kadri, who he has a history with. Against Winnipeg, Backes notched over 20 minutes of ice time for the first time this season.

Assuming Bergeron reunites with Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, Backes will likely move down to the second line with two of his fellow centers, David Krejci and Ryan Spooner. Though that trio was only together for two preseason games, the line created some chemistry as seen on Spooner’s game-winner in the preseason finale in Philadelphia where Backes sent him on a breakaway.

His production on the scoresheet can always improve. His leadership abilities are unquestioned. So far, so good for Backes.

Brandon Carlo:

Failing to acquire a top pairing defenseman in the off-season, GM Don Sweeney, coach Claude Julien and company are looking from within for their immediate defensive help. So far, one of the young blue-liners is showing some promise.

Skating with Zdeno Chara on the Bruins top defensive unit, Brandon Carlo is steadily showing his progression through the first three games of his National Hockey League career. From time to time, Carlo struggled against Columbus and part of that can be contributed to first game jitters, while another is due to adjusting to the NHL level. In his second game against Toronto, Carlo was one of the few Bruins to stand out in the 4-1 loss and in Game No. 3, the Colorado Springs blue-liner had his best game of the trip notching his first career goal in 30 shifts and 24:27 of ice time.

There’s always going to be an adjustment for any youngster during the course of their rookie season(s). Carlo will likely hit a wall at some point. At the same time, the 19-year-old is giving Bruins fans something to look forward to.

Three down

David Krejci:

Last year, David Krejci started his campaign on a nine-game point streak. During that span, the Czech earned three star of the month honors as he tallied 15 points on seven goals and eight assists.

Given his off-season hip surgery, one would expect that he wouldn’t have a similar start to the 2016-17 campaign. The 30-year-old only played in two preseason games prior to the start of the regular season. Through the first three games, he still looks a little bit rusty and his decision making is a little off.

On Monday, Krejci only tallied 13:59 of ice time. It’s safe to say that the Bruins still see him as an integral part of the organization and Krejci is known to be a streaky scorer. With all the attention that the Bruins top line will receive upon Bergeron’s return, Krejci is one that hopes to benefit and take advantage of teams overlooking his line down the road.

Jimmy Hayes:

After a disappointing first season for his hometown team and a summer that saw him in a center of a rather head scratching report surrounding the Jimmy Vesey saga, Jimmy Hayes was eager to get his second season underway. Through the first three games, however, the Hayes of last season is showing up again.

Through three games, the Dorchester native has been losing puck battles in the dirty areas and has really been a non-factor in other areas. The Boston College alum scored his last goal on February 24th against the Penguins and is in midst of a 19-game scoreless streak dating back to 2015-16. If things don’t pan out soon for Hayes, then he could very well be making another visit to Level 9 as a spectator.

Austin Czarnik:

With just one preseason game left, Austin Czarnik gave the Bruins something to ponder about in their roster decisions. Then a shoulder to the head from Radko Gudas seemed to derail the start of his NHL journey.

Having cleared concussion protocol and with Bergeron’s injury giving the Bruins a vacant spot, Czarnik joined the team on their three-game road trip skating with Hayes and Matt Beleskey. The 23-year-old also saw some power play time in his first two NHL games, but didn’t show much in production against Columbus and Toronto and was scratched in favor of Tim Schaller in Winnipeg.

Perhaps Czarnik is still feeling some effects from the Guads hit, or maybe this is just a blip on the radar screen. Given his strong preseason, it’s a disappointing sequence of events for Czarnik, who was one of the Bruins trending upwards in the preseason edition of three up and three down.