Kalman: Bruins Dealing With A Chara-Less Scare
By Matt Kalman
BOSTON (CBS) - Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara stands 6 feet, 9 inches tall and averages 23:26 of ice time.
Yet somehow goaltender Tuukka Rask didn't notice the Bruins captain was missing during the second period of a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden on Tuesday.
The Bruins surrendered three goals in the second period and squandered leads of 1-0 and 2-1. They were outshot 14-12 in the second period.
"I didn't even realize that he was gone, to be honest with you, until the intermission," Rask said. "I think ... they [the Blues] were strong on the puck in the second and created some chances and played a good period. But it happens in hockey, you can't always dominate the whole 60 minutes."
There was mystery surrounding Chara's absence. He made it through his entire first shift of the second period and only took one seemingly innocuous hit from Blues forward Jaden Schwartz near the end wall of the Boston zone. And then he was gone. Coach Claude Julien said he didn't have an update after the game.
UPDATE, Wednesday, 10:45 a.m.: The Bruins announced that Chara suffered a lower-body injury and won't travel with the team for Thursday's game in Ottawa.
There's no mystery what it will mean for the Bruins if Chara has to miss an extended period of time. Take the second period, which featured the Blues wearing the Bruins down and exploiting Chara's usual defense partner, rookie Brandon Carlo, and multiply it by at least five. Those playoff hopes will be a fantasy if Chara doesn't get back soon.
After Dominic Moore gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal, the Blues went to work down low. With all sorts of traffic flying by Rask in the Boston zone, Robert Bortuzzo scored on a rebound to tie the score 2-2 at 13:59 of the second.
Carlo and Torey Krug were overmatched later in the period while Paul Stastny and Jaden Schwartz cycled the puck in the right circle. Stastny scored off a rebound of a Schwartz shot at 16:11 to give the Blues a lead they never relinquished.
"I struggled a bit there in the second for sure," Carlo said. "Definitely some onus on me for those goals. But I think regardless I got to play my game and play the right way regardless of who's across from me. Definitely a bit more responsibility on myself to get in better position there and keep those ones out of the net."
The Bruins earned some credit for responding in the third period. They outshot the Blues 17-7 and if Jimmy Hayes or Matt Beleskey or David Krejci or Ryan Spooner would have cashed in any of their golden opportunities, the Bruins might've taken a point in the standings.
Instead the Bruins showed what life without Chara might look like. The Bruins barely stayed afloat in 2014-15 when Chara missed 19 games with a knee injury.
They went 11-7-1. This team is less equipped than that one to stem the tide even if Chara misses a fraction of the number of games. We saw how much the Bruins struggled while Patrice Bergeron and David Backes were out for separate stints. Players from lower lines were forced to play bigger roles and were exposed. What will the Bruins look like with John-Michael Liles or Krug playing Chara's minutes, or with Joe Morrow and Colin Miller in the lineup at the same time?
Perish the thought.
But miracles do happen and that's part of what the Bruins will have to lean on if they're missing Chara for the foreseeable future.
"Well you just simplify things," Krug said when asked how the Bruins can survive without Chara. "I know that as a group you kind of have to attack the minutes.
There's a big hole and I think you just simplify your game. You don't try and do something that you don't normally do and you don't try to be something that you not. I'm not all of a sudden going to become a shutdown defenseman. I just got to be myself. That goes for the rest of the guys in the group and their roles. It's definitely tough when you lose a player like that."
The plan sounds solid. Whether the Bruins can execute it and get the necessary offensive support is another story. You better believe that if Chara's not in the lineup the next couple games, Rask will notice.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @MattKalman.