Oct 23, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center
Chris Kelly(23) reacts after scoring a goal during the third period against the New York Islanders at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins(7-6-0) head back to the TD Garden tomorrow night to welcome old friend Shawn Thornton and the Florida Panthers(4-2-3). The Bruins are coming off a solid 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, and they did it with a deeply diminished roster.
The Bruins are currently without three of their starting defenseman, and the B’s may be without the services of top line forward David Krejci. He was a last second scratch against the Senators on Saturday night. This has been a rough early run for the Czech center. He’s been out for four of the Bruins’ first thirteen games with various undisclosed injuries.
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“Day-to-day, according to our trainers – that’s what I’m getting from them.” said Claude Julien of Krejci after this morning’s practice. He refused to comment any further on Krejci’s ability to play tomorrow night.
“We have to be strong enough to say, ‘We have a game to play, there’s a certain way to play it and if we play that way, we have a chance.’ So, I know they’re important players and I’m certainly not going to downplay that, but you know, when you don’t have them, you’ve got to rely on others and you’ve got to really believe and feel that your team is still good, and that’s how I look at it.” Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien
The Bruins have made it work for them though. Matt Fraser filled in for Krejci on Saturday and had an outstanding two goal performance for the Black and Gold. Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Seidenberg have been soaking up quality minutes on the blueline and have played some of their best hockey of the season. Adam McQuaid is playing like he has never been hurt, and has been fearless on the ice.
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The Bruins have had to scramble up their lines to fix the holes in their roster. Only the Bergeron line remained untouched during practice this morning. Chris Kelly is back at center, and playing on the top line with Milan Lucic and Seth Griffith. Matt Fraser is the newest honorary Swede to play on the third line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson.
Chris Kelly has become the vocal on-ice captain for the Bruins, and has been pleased with how the B’s have reacted.
“I think throughout the course of the year, there’s going to be injuries, and different people have got to fill different roles,” offered Kelly after practice. “I’ve played with Looch before and that was my first time playing with Seth and I thought we had a good game last game, we had some good scoring chances.”
“Unfortunately, we were on for a goal against, but all in all, in the big picture of the night, we played well, we supported one another, we weren’t in our end too much, and hopefully that continues.”
We’ll see how the Bruins build on Saturday’s game tomorrow night at the TD Garden.