Bruno Gervais admitted he felt the effects of not having scored a goal in nearly three years.
“The guys have laughed at me because I hit the post so much,” the defenseman said. “I wake up from my dreams hearing that sound.”
He finally ended that streak on Monday against Colorado, scoring his first goal since April 18, 2006.
“It’s not something you like to think about, but I knew it had been a while,” Gervais said. “I’d been getting a lot of chances lately and I knew one would go in one day.”
It wasn’t always like this for the 24-year-old.
“It was frustrating, especially because I used to be a goal scorer,” Gervais said. “In juniors, I’d have 20 goals.”
That happened back in 2002-03, when he scored 22 goals in 72 games. He also had 20 goals in 2005-06 – 17 with Bridgeport in the AHL and three with the Isles. The following season, no goals in 51 games, the year after that zero in 60 and this season, he went the first 49 without one.
“Offense is something I know I can bring to the table,” Gervais said. “I got away from it a little bit and lost some confidence offensively.”
Still, he’s not overly concerned with scoring all that much.
“I feel like I bring a lot to the table, so I don’t have to score a hat trick every game,” Gervais said, adding with a laugh: “And now I’m good for 160 games, right?”