Less than 24 hours after dropping a disappointing 6-5 shootout decision to the Ottawa Senators in Canada, the Boston Bruins were back at Warrior Ice Arena Sunday morning for practice ahead of Monday afternoon's game at home against the San Jose Sharks. There were plenty of topics to discuss in the benching of a Bruins Superstar, which is where we'll begin this edition of Boston Bruins News.
Brad Marchand discusses benching vs. Ottawa
Bruins captain Brad Marchand was noticeably missing during the five-minute overtime session at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday. He did not take a shootout attempt and after the game, interim coach Joe Sacco said that he did not play Marchand as a coach's decision. The veteran Boston forward addressed it after practice.
“He’s going to make decisions based on how he feels each guy is playing each night,'' said Marchand. "I get it. Next time, I need to do better. My details were not good enough and in a game like that, they need to be spot on.''
According to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, Sacco moved the lines around a bit at practice and moved Matthew Poitras up to the second line with Marchand and Vinni Lettieri, an interesting move and we'll see if that ends up being the combination against the Sharks.
Pavel Zacha absent from practice
Missing from practice was forward Pavel Zacha, who picked up a power play goal and an assist on Morgan Geekie's second-period goal after a slick pass to the slot. After practice, Sacco said that it was just a maintenance day for his veteran forward, which may alter Poitras' moving up to the second line against San Jose.
Charlie McAvoy out vs. Sharks
On Monday, the Bruins will once again be without defenseman Charlie McAvoy who missed the last two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Senators. Sacco said that he was going to be out through the weekend and then re-evaluated after that.
“He’ll be out tomorrow again and then we will just see how he progresses'' Sacco said. "like I said he was going to be out through the weekend then we will re-evaluate.”
This is a very big and busy week for the Black and Gold who travel to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday before hosting Ottawa on Thursday and the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. It's safe to say they need him back as quickly as possible.