Bruins Preseason Notes
Monday night, the Boston Bruins returned to TD Garden for the first time since the devastating Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues. It was a preseason game, as they played host to the Philadelphia Flyers. The two teams met first last Thursday in Philly where the Bruins walked away with a 3-1 victory—in large part due to Jaroslav Halak’s “Spidey sense” saves that had Flyers’ rookie Morgan Frost clutching his helmeted head in disbelief. Frost wasn’t part of the roster on Monday for the Flyers. The Bruins had added a few more of their veterans including Tuukka Rask, David Krejci, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.
Like many preseason games there were still some players to be evaluated. Likewise the preseason games are designed to also get familiar with the changes to the rules.
No one expects major injuries to come from these games, but both of the games against the Flyers have cost the Bruins players. Last Thursday’s game Anton Blidh had just seven shifts, for a total of 4:40 time on ice before he had to leave the game. On Monday, it was Krejci who got injured after just two shifts and 1:55 ice time. It was announced during the game Monday that Krejci had sustained a lower body injury and would not be returning to the game.
After the game, the Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, addressed the Krejci injury.
“I don’t think he’s serious. Took a hit early on, tried to keep playing but he just felt it was better to not push through, it wasn’t worth it. Obviously we’ll know more tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s serious,” he said.
However Krejci was noticeably absent at practice Tuesday morning.
“He’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow [Wednesday]. Right now, we don’t think it’s anything serious but we’re going to take our time with it and make sure he’s ready to go next week,” Coach Cassidy shared after Tuesday’s practice.
It is unlikely that Krejci will play in either of the remaining preseason games.
Meanwhile the injury to Blidh has resulted in surgery. The Bruins announced on Tuesday that Blidh had undergone the surgery on Monday to repair a ligament in his right shoulder. He is expected to be out a minimum of four months.
Coach Cassidy had already announced that Halak would start in net on Wednesday when the Bruins host the New Jersey Devils. And Rask will start on Saturday against Chicago.
The Bruins organization also announced on Tuesday that they had assigned Dan Vladar to Providence. He played the final period and the OT of Monday’s game, and gave up two goals on the 16 shots he faced. In addition to Rask and Halak, the Bruins still have Maxime Lagacé and Kyle Keyser on the training roster, so it is possible that each of them will see a little more playing time in these last two preseason games.
Perhaps the most awaited news has been when Patrice Bergeron might play. He has been participating in camp the last few days without a red non-contact jersey. And he told media after Tuesday’s practice that he expects to be in the lineup on Saturday.
“I’m slowly feeling better on the ice and more comfortable. I’d like to be in Saturday for sure if things go according to plan. There’s not much more to say than I’m feeling good, things are advancing and looking good,” Bergeron said.
Boston will participate in skates Wednesday morning at Warrior Ice Arena and then will take on the Devils at TD Garden at 7:00pm. Wednesday’s game will be televised on NESNPlus.
