ST. LOUIS — He kept his responses curt, but the sight of Zdeno Chara even managing to speak was a welcome sight Saturday afternoon at Enterprise Center.
Less than five days after taking a puck to the mouth and reportedly fracturing his jaw during Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, Chara wasn’t ready to entertain any limitations that he might be saddled with — as much as his fishbowl helmet and muffled voice might say otherwise.
“I think there is no limitations,” Chara said. “I’m still able to play. … “I feel fine playing. Obviously, it was a quick turnaround after last game here, but I felt fine.”
Even if his minutes were down (16:42 TOI), Chara still managed to hold his own in Game 5 despite playing with a major injury, with the 42-year-old veteran still limiting the Blues to just one high-danger scoring chance over 14:49 of 5v5 TOI.
Chara didn’t seem to be any worse for wear on Saturday, as he was once again a regular participant in practice while skating with Charlie McAvoy on Boston’s top D pairing.
As expected, the Bruins captain was mum on the severity of his injury, declining to confirm if he’s dealing with a broken jaw while not delving too deep into his ability to eat food — a concern given the amount of energy spent over the course of a game.
Regardless of how much pain he’s dealing with, Cassidy expects Chara to be cleared once again for game action in Game 6, noting that the club will be relying heavily on its veteran core not only to produce results, but keep the team steady with its season hanging in the balance.
“I think it’s the off day, yesterday, today, regroup and I think that’s where your veteran guys really help you get settled, relaxed, breathe, sort of stay in the moment,” Cassidy said. “And tomorrow, obviously, they’ll help in the morning. But once the puck drops, players play. I know it’s a bigger stage, but I think they’re able to block things out. That’s why we get this far, a lot of guys, even the young ones can block it out, just play. Hopefully, that’ll be the case tomorrow.
Cassidy added: "I don’t think we run from (pressure). We were up against it against Toronto, we played very well, Game 7, elimination game at home, I thought we played well, too. We’ll be ready to play. We just have to execute better in St. Louis, for one — start with that. Team defense has been good for us all year, we have to get back to our identity, make sure we’re not giving up easy chances. I think the game will take care of itself from there.”
Grzelcyk still stuck in protocol, Wagner returns
The news wasn’t exactly good Saturday afternoon when it comes to Matt Grzelcyk, who took part in practice but donned a red, non-contact sweater once again. He wore a regular practice sweater ahead of Thursday’s Game 5, but was eventually not cleared from the concussion protocol in time for game action.
“He’s not, hasn’t been medically cleared,” Cassidy said of Grzelcyk’s status.
While Grzelcyk has hit a bit of a roadblock when it comes to his return to the lineup, the Bruins did get some semblance of good news once the main practice wrapped up at Enterprise Center — as Chris Wagner took to the ice and didn’t appear to have many limitations after suffering a hand/wrist injury during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final.
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— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) June 8, 2019