Through 24 games this season, the Boston Bruins have had to deal with a number of injuries to key players. Boston’s best defensive player, Zdeno Chara, has missed 15 games and David Krejci, perhaps the team’s best all-around player, has missed 13 games. The team has also dealt with a number of other injuries to other players on their roster. With all the injuries, the Bruins have had to play 30 different players this season. Although losing as many players as the Bruins have has cost the team a few wins early in the season, the injuries may turn out to be a good thing for the team later in the season.
Less wear and tear on Chara:
At age 37, Chara has not finished the past few season’s healthy, and it has clearly diminished his level of play in the playoffs. Just last season Chara was clearly not playing up to his standards during the series with the Montreal Canadiens. He ended up admitting later that he had two broken fingers on his shooting hand. Although it is never a good thing when the Bruins do not have Chara on the ice, the extended time off for the Bruins’ captains could help keep him fresh for later in the season. There is however also no guarantee that the PCL tear that has kept Chara off the ice for most of the season won’t cause him to not be able to return to the level of play Boston is accustomed to seeing.
New line possibilities:
Bruins’ coach Claude Julien has a reputation for rolling his four lines without much change in the line combinations. The injury to Krejci however has made Julien try a variety of new combinations for a majority of the season. His first strategy was to bump Chris Kelly up to the first line with Milan Lucic and one of the many Bruins’ young forwards. After many non-productive games by that line, Julien finally decided to put Lucic with more skilled players. He decided to stick Lucic on the third line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. That combination has seemed to fit Lucic’s eye, as the rugged LW has scored in back-to-back games for the first time this season. It may not be the fastest line on the team, but with each of the three players at least 6-foot-2, they are able to create space on the ice. Krejci did not travel with the team out to the West Coast which likely means that line will stay intact for at least the next four games.
Young defensemen gaining experience:
Although Chara and Adam McQuaid are the only defensemen from the Bruins’ opening night roster that are currently not playing, the team has had a number of different defensemen go down at times this season. Those injuries have forced the team to call up a number of defensemen from Providence, many of whom have little to no experience in the NHL. Being able to get playing time on the NHL level can only be to the benefit of the Bruins’ young d-men. Although come playoff time the team will need to have their more experienced defensemen in the lineup if they want to make a deep run, the more experience players can get against NHL competition the better off they will be.
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