Oct 30, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Boston Bruins center
David Krejci(46) shoots the puck against the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins(8-6-0) will be taking on the Edmonton Oilers(4-7-1) tonight at the TD Garden. In a strange twist of fate, both teams will be going into battle without their captains. Bruins captain’ Zdeno Chara will be out for the next few weeks due to his PCL tear, and Oilers’ captain (and former Boston Bruin) Andrew Ference is in the middle of serving out his suspension for his hit on Zack Kassian. Both teams are on three game streaks (The B’s have won their last three, and the Oilers have dropped their last three).
The Bruins will not just be lacking their captain, but maybe without one of their alternate captains as well. David Krejci was on the ice yesterday, but missed practice again. Krejci has been battling a recurring hip injury that has seemed to gotten the better of him again. He has missed five games so far this season.
Coach Claude Julien will likely be making another game time decision about Krejci. He commented to the media after yesterday’s practice about Krejci’s status. “If he would be ready , I would want him in the lineup. Why sit him out a game when he’s ready?… I’m going to talk to our trainers. We’ll probably talk again tomorrow morning and see if there’s still some doubt that he’s not going to be playing, but if he’s 100 percent, I don’t want him watching tomorrow.”
Krejci’s absence isn’t just missed by the coach and the fans. He’s missed by his teammates. “Probably not the start of the season that he’s wanted,” said Bruins forward Milan Lucic of his linemate. “Missing five games now in the season. But then again, it is November, so you’d rather him take his time and get back to 100 percent and get back to being the player that he can be because you can definitely see out there how important of a guy he is to our lineup.”
If Krejci is out, then it’s likely Chris Kelly will be staying in as the top line center. Kelly has had a strong opening start to the season, and he has had good chemistry going with Lucic. While having Krejci is the preferable outcome tonight, Seth Griffith has done well as a temporary filler for the top line.
Brad Marchand had the right idea when it came to the Bruins attitude. “Right now, the amount of injuries we have, we all have to step up a little more, and hopefully we can continue to do that.” Marchand and Griffith have stepped up for Boston, and if the team plays to their strengths they’ll win again tonight at the Garden.