Boston Bruins: Veterans get maintenance day for Friday’s practice

After a hard fought, come-from-behind, shootout victory against the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night, several veterans on the Boston Bruins received maintenance days for Friday’s practice.

These veterans included forwards Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Krejci, and defensemen Kevan Miller and Matt Grzelcyk. Bergeron, Marchand, and Miller all topped 20 minutes of ice time Thursday night (Marchy played over 22), and Krejci and Grzelcyk played over 18 minutes.

With this season being so condensed as the league is trying to fit in 56 games and the playoffs before the end of June, it’s no surprise that the older players and players that aren’t used to playing so many minutes in one game are already receiving days off from practice.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Miller and Marchand receive more maintenance days than the rest of their teammates as they are both returning from injuries. This thought especially applies to Miller who hadn’t played in a hockey game since April of 2019 before the start of this season because of a broken knee cap.

Matt Grzelcyk will most likely play for the Boston Bruins Saturday night.

Grzelcyk getting an off day is the least surprising out of these five players as he has had a tough last two games. In Monday’s game against the New York Islanders, Grizz seemed to suffer an upper-body injury after an awkward fall after being tangled up with forward Jordan Eberle late in the game.

However, Grzelcyk practiced Wednesday with the team and stated that he felt close to 100%. But Grizz’s tough week wasn’t over as he once again had an awkward fall in the second period Thursday’s game.

This time he seemed to suffered a lower-body injury — something with one of his legs — as he skated back to the bench on basically on one leg. However, he returned to the game and played the rest of regulation. Grzelcyk didn’t play in overtime however, as head coach Bruce Cassidy noticed some discomfort and decided to hold him out.

While this is concerning, Cassidy announced after practice that Grizz said he felt good and he expects him to play Saturday.

Once again, the Bruins dodged a bullet with Grzelcyk avoiding a significant injury.