Oct 11, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) during the third period of Washington
A month ago, the Boston Bruins had nine NHL ready defensemen. Then the Bruins thought it was necessary to trade away Johnny Boychuk. David Warsofsky was sent back to Providence, and then there were seven. Kevan Miller dislocated his right shoulder in the 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres, and seven became six.
Tonight, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was added to the casualty list. He played only five shifts in the first period before leaving with an undisclosed injury. Without Chara and his massive defensive presence, the New York Islanders were able to out shoot the B’s 12-6 and score two quick goals in the second period. Those two goals proved to be the difference in a 3-2 over the Black and Gold. This is the second injury to the defensemen in the last three games. This leaves the Bruins (4-5-0) with five operational blueliners.
Both the nature of and the severity of Chara’s injury are unknown.
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The Bruins seemed lost without their captain tonight. It took the Chris Kelly goal to breathe life back into the team. The B’s spend the latter half of the third period trying to put the puck past former Bruin Chad Johnson. It was just too little, too late.
Matt Bartkowski had a chance to improve on his performance tonight (and silence his critics) but wasn’t able to make it work. He was on the ice for the Kyle Okposo goal, where he made another mental mistake allowing the Islanders to take a 2-1 lead.
Puck management issues and loose coverage also plagued Torey Krug tonight. Krug (along with Bartkowski) were out of position for the Cal Clutterbuck goal. Both Krug and Bartkowski were a -1 for the night.
Puck Prose
So, who gets the call up if Chara isn’t capable of playing Saturday night in Toronto? It’s a toss up between Zach Trotman and David Warsofsky. One of them will be called up tomorrow to help fill the newest hole in the Bruins line. It will depend on how the B’s feel who will make the biggest difference .