Kalman: Chara' Injury Hurts, But More Scoring Could Help The Healing
By Matt Kalman
BOSTON (CBS) -- The injury picture with Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara was a little clearer on Wednesday than it was after the 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden on Tuesday.
Chara sustained a lower-body injury after skating one shift in the second period against the Blues. The Bruins announced Wednesday the captain would not make the trip to Ottawa for the game on Thursday. After practice at Warrior Ice Arena, coach Claude Julien said Chara was doubtful to play against the Calgary Flames at TD Garden on Friday.
Panic didn't descend upon the Bruins' Brighton practice facility despite the loss of the team leader in ice time at 22:41 per game. Instead there was discussion about the defensemen needing to make up for Chara's loss by committee and the forwards being responsible for helping them out. If Chara's out longer than a couple games, one look at the Bruins' defense corps should make one worry that Boston doesn't have the horses to stay afloat the way it did in 2014-15 when it went 11-7-1 without Chara because of a torn knee ligament.
But the Bruins were trying to keep things positive Wednesday.
"I think so far in the last little while I think everybody together as a group has really come together and embraced our identity and the style of play that we want to emphasize and I think that's one of the reasons we've had success," defenseman John-Michael Liles said after practice.
The Bruins had been solid defensively before allowing four goals (one an empty-netter) against the Blues. They had allowed two or fewer goals in five straight games. In fact, defense had emerged as their calling card with their offense leaving a little to be desired. That was the case against St. Louis, as they only beat goaltender Jake Allen twice in 41 shots. The Bruins' recent shot totals reveal a team that's getting its chances. But Julien likes to call his slumping scorers "snake bit" and there just might be a few too many snakes loose in the Bruins' dressing room.
Patrice Bergeron has one goal in his past eight games, Matt Beleskey has two goals all season, Ryan Spooner has scored once in the past nine games and, famously, Jimmy Hayes hasn't scored all season. The Bruins have gotten unexpected contributions from grinders Dominic Moore (five goals) and Tim Schaller (three goals) but that's not going to keep them in the playoff hunt with or without Chara over the next crucial stretch of the schedule.
David Pastrnak, the Bruins' leading goal scorer with 10, seems ready to return after he missed the past three games with an injury. That'll provide a boost but the Bruins can't afford to sit back and expect Pastrnak to carry the entire load.
"Obviously we're not scoring as much," Beleskey said. "We have [41] shots on net and can't seem to get that third one [on Tuesday]. But they'll open up. I think we're playing well as a team. If we play like that every night we have a very good chance to win."
The Bruins have to turn their hopeful words into relaxed actions. Hayes shooting the puck as hard as he can from 2 feet out isn't going to help anyone. Other Bruins seem to be pressing just as much, which is most evident when they pass when they should shoot and shoot when they should pass.
Maybe the Chara absence will lighten up the forwards' minds. Maybe they can focus on defense, stop worrying about their scoring slumps, and then the goals will flow. The Bruins are at their best after all when they use strong defense to force turnovers and take the puck on the attack.
It might be a stretch to say the scoring might increase with Chara out, but there are so few silver linings in Chara's injury for the Bruins, you might as well as reach as far as you can looking on the positive side.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @MattKalman.
