Patrice Bergeron, out since suffering a laceration on his head in a game against Pittsburgh, practiced with the team on Wednesday at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan and appears ready to make his return on Thursday against the New York Islanders.

Fortunately for Bergeron, who has a well-documented history of concussions, the extent of his injury was the cut and the swelling that went along with it.

“I felt good, it’s just that you obviously want to take the time. When you hit your head, you always ask yourself many questions. I’ve been through it before,” Bergeron told reporters after practice. “Everything felt fine. It was more of a matter of taking the time with the cut. I think the team and the trainers as well wanted to make sure everything was back to normal before I headed back on the ice for games.”

On the play in question, Bergeron got his feet tangled up with Sidney Crosby’s. He was knocked off balance and the side of his head took the brunt of the impact with the boards.

“To be honest, I knew I was close (to the boards) but I didn’t think I was that close,” said Bergeron. “I thought I was a little more in the middle (of the ice). It is a bad spot to fall that close to the boards. You’re not close enough for your back and the rest of your body to hit the boards.”

While he did not suffer a concussion, he conceded that such a blow to the head gave him pause. He nearly had his career ended on a hit from behind in 2007 and has had several other concussions since then.

“Of course you think about that, but it wasn’t one of those where I needed to really think about it,” said Bergeron. “But it’s always something where you want to make sure as an athlete, you do the right things on the ice and play as hard as you can, but also you think about your future and be smart that way. That’s also why we took the extra time to make sure it was really feeling great.”

The return of Bergeron will create some shifts in the forward lines. With Brad Marchand still out on suspension, the captain will play between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak, who have gone scoreless in the three games since Bergeron and Marchand have been out of the lineup. Pastrnak, of course, had been Bergeron’s longtime linemate before the units were jumbled on Jan. 1, while Hall saw some action next to Bergeron when Marchand was suspended earlier in the season.

The offense could use a jumpstart. The Bruins have scored just five goals in their past four games.

MARCHAND HAD his appeal of the six-game suspension heard at the league offices in New York on Wednesday. No word yet if it was at all successful. As it is, Marchand is halfway through it already.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

JETS 6, WILD 3: Mark Scheifele had the fifth hat trick of his career and added an assist to lead Winnipeg over visiting Minnesota.

PANTHERS 3, HURRICANES 2: Sam Reinhart scored in the final minute of regulation to force overtime, then Aaron Ekblad got free for a breakaway goal just 16 seconds into overtime to give visiting Florida a win over Carolina.