Following Boston’s 6-3 setback against the Avalanche on Wednesday night, Bruce Cassidy didn’t have much of an update on the status of Zdeno Chara — with the B’s captain set to be re-evaluated Thursday after leaving the contest due to a lower-body injury.
From the quick eye test, it doesn’t look good for the 41-year-old blueliner, with Chara’s knee appearing to buckle after trying to square up a check against Colorado forward Carl Soderberg in the closing minutes of the first period.
Chara didn’t return for the final two periods of Wednesday’s matchup — and the ice very quickly tilted in favor of the Avs as a result.
Now, the case could be made that the B’s forwards laid an egg down the stretch with just 10 shots on goal during five-on-five (5v5) play, but there’s no doubting that Boston was left rudderless and often out of gas in its own zone without Chara anchoring the blue line.
With Chara out of commission over the final 40 minutes of regulation, Colorado feasted — holding a 28-19 edge in attempts over the final two periods, including a 14-5 advantage in what was a dominant second stanza.
During that same stretch, Boston only managed three scoring chances against
Semyon Varlamov.
Down the other end of the ice? Colorado posted 13 chances against Jaroslav Halak — including four high-danger bids.
Boston’s D corps is already in rough shape, with
Jeremy Lauzon
tying for the most shorthanded TOI on Wednesday — in what was just the sixth game of his NHL career.
Now, with Chara out,
Brandon Carlo
(upper-body) and
Charlie McAvoy’s
(concussion) status still up in the air and
Kevan Miller
(hand) still at least two games away from returning, it looks like
Jakub Zboril
is the next man up in the revolving door of defensemen for the Black and Gold — while Boston is now likely going to have call up yet another skater from Providence for added insurance on the blue line.
At this point, Providence may not even have enough blueliners to field a competitive AHL roster.
Despite his age, Chara is still relied upon as Boston’s top minutes-eater and go-to option on the kill, with the 6-foot-9 defenseman averaging 22:27 TOI in what is his 21st season in the NHL.
So where does that leave Boston’s defense — especially after a night in which a youngster in Lauzon logged 21:07 TOI,
Steven Kampfer
finished with a season-high 16:31 TOI and Boston's PK relinquished three goals?
Not in a great spot, especially if a player making his NHL debut in Zboril is going to be the answer Friday night against a Stars club that can pounce on a defense in a hurry.
While younger players like Lauzon and
Matt Grzelcyk
have appeared to hold their own with heavier minutes and more responsibility, it’s not realistic to expect this D corps in its current state to hold its own with the added loss of Chara — especially with McAvoy, Carlo and others still on the mend.
In fact, it’s bordering on absurd.
