Briere looks done. He got that goal, but he was slow all night, second on every puck and made a lot of sloppy and rushed plays. I hope the last two had to do with the rust of not playing for a while, but if he really did lose his speed because of age and that makes him second on loose pucks as a result, I don't see a lot of success here.
He's also not very engaged in the defensive zone. He'll cover the passing lane, but he won't use his stick or body to tie up the person he's covering, that's just appears very lazy to me, especially when you consider that he's a centreman, and when you consider how Eller, White and Plekanec are all very active in their own zone, using their body to retrieve the puck and fighting for possession below the hashmarks and behind the net.
The only bright spot that I've seen all season is that he has a knack at picking off break out passes just outside the opponents blue-line. Problem is when he does, he rushes his play and it dies. I hope this isn't a trend.
Also, I've noticed that in the offensive zone, the only board battles he'll engage in is behind the goal-line. When a battle is engaged on the half-wall, he's very lackadaisical and obviously doesn't give a full effort.
I don't like what I've seen, but I'll put up with it so long as he and Desharnais are not in the lineup at the same time. We don't need both players.