Boston Bruins: Why did Zdeno Chara miss the game versus Winnipeg?

Boston Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara was a late scratch ahead of what turned out to be a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

Though they came away with the win, the Boston Bruins very much could’ve done with the stabilising presence of Zdeno Chara on their back-line.

His injury, whilst related to the injury to his jaw sustained during last season’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, should see him back in action very soon.

Contrary to some of the suggestions, his fight with the Nashville Predators’ Vakov Trenin was not the cause of his late scratching ahead of the Winnipeg game. While a solid punch to a surgically-repaired jaw probably didn’t tickle, it wasn’t reason enough to miss the game.

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Instead, it appears his injury can be attributed to an abscess that came as a direct result of surgery just prior to Christmas. That surgery was a direct continuation of the care he received during the Boston Bruins’ playoff run, namely removing plates and screws that held it all together.

It obviously remains to be seen whether Zdeno Chara will miss any further time as a result of this minor complication in the healing process, but with Torey Krug also almost missing the Jets’ game due to a flu bug, it highlights a certain lack of true top-four depth for the Boston Bruins.

It’s all well and good to expect Urho Vaakanainen to step up, but he still needs further time at the top level to learn how to play NHL-level defense. Likewise, the likes of Steven Kampfer are all well and good to fill in every once in a while, but in all reality Matt Grzelyck is the only guy you’d see with true potential to play in the top four.

This season, Zdeno Chara has had somewhat of an offensive renaissance at age 42 – he is very close to a goal-scoring pace that will see him crack double-figures for the first time in three seasons, while he is also likely to match that season’s points total if he can maintain this pace.

Not only that, he’s continuing, even in his forties, to step up for his teammates in exactly the way we’d expect a team captain (and giant of a man) to do so. Zdeno Chara has already stepped in and fought 3 times this season for the Boston Bruins.

One more fight will match his 2011-12 total and he might well be finishing the year with penalty minute totals more akin to those he was tallying ten years ago as a much younger man also.

Part of this can be argued is his inability to keep up with the play in a much faster league, but he’s also a man that is more than willing to stick up for his teammates and thus more at risk of copping the cross-checking and roughing calls that come with that.

With any luck, this absence doesn’t last and he’s back in action against the New York Islanders. Though given their rather lacklustre scoring performance, maybe we wouldn’t miss him too much if he needs a little more healing time.