Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The Boston Bruins lost yet another home game on Tuesday night. In the loss, the Bruins’ penalty-kill failed them yet again, killing just three of San Jose’s five power-play opportunities and paved the way for a postgame full of Boston veterans insisting that the team has too many ‘passengers’ right now.
And hey, you know who the Black and Gold could use right now? Chris Kelly.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the 35-year-old’s season is most likely done by way of his broken femur -- an injury that typically comes with a six-to-eight month recovery -- but he wants to help his ailing club.
“I want to be part of it. I don’t want to be in the way, and I don’t want to be a nuisance, by any means, but I definitely want to be around the guys and help the guys,… admitted Kelly, speaking with the media for the first time since the injury, this morning. “Whatever aspect that is — sitting around and just chatting with guys and having fun in the mornings, or watching the games and just giving a little bit of feedback — I think everyone knows in that locker room that I’m here to help in any capacity.…
In the final year of a contract that comes with a $3 million cap-hit and with an aforementioned lengthy recovery on tap, it’d be easy for Kelly, who’s already won a Stanley Cup in his career, to call it a career.
But No. 23 hasn’t even thought about that.
“I think age is, in my opinion, just a mindset. I felt great coming into camp this year. Great thing about hockey, as someone said: You always feel like you’re 24, even if you’re 19 or you’re 34,… said Kelly. “I want to continue to play. I love the game, I love being around the guys, the guys have been great, and when you get an injury like this, you realize what a strong community the hockey world is.…
Kelly initially believed that the break was a slash from a Dallas player -- not his femur breaking -- but admitted that he knew that something was wrong following alerts from a panicked Dallas bench.
“Obviously everything runs through your mind when you get hurt, regardless of what stage in your career or how old you are. I’ve just tried to handle it the way I’ve approached other injuries: I’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of me, which I don’t mind, and we’ll see what happens. I can’t predict the future; all I can do is worry about rehabbing and getting my leg to where it needs to be, and feeling good.
“I’m extremely confident that I’ll get there.…
Set for their eighth sans-Kelly game -- it’s worth noting that the Bruins are 2-5-0 without No. 23 in the lineup -- B’s coach Claude Julien knows that the Bruins need to cut back on their mistakes over the course of their 60-minute effort if they’re going to find success.
“I don’t think the guys have shown a real poor effort, we’ve been inconsistent with our game, and sometimes when you don’t play well it doesn’t look like you’re working hard. I think it’s just we need to work better, we need to make smarter decisions,… Julien said. “And when you give up five goals a game at home it’s certainly due to a lot of times you look at the mistakes that were made and that’s what you have to assess too. So I think we have to really get better with our game without the puck, which used to be our strength. And there’s no doubt about that, but right now we’re giving up way too many goals.
“And as a group I think from a goaltender perspective to defensive and the responsibilities to our Ds and our forwards, the kind of mistakes that are being done are the ones that are costing us right now so. I think 60 minutes of better focus, -- I say that often…this is the NHL and there’s parity in the NHL so I don’t think there’s any reason why we think we should walk all over certain teams.…
Against a Minnesota Wild squad that’s won 10 of 17 this season -- but just three of nine away from home -- the B’s know that it’s stopping a Wild team that’s averaging three goals a game that’s the task.
“We’re scoring at a good pace we’re just not defending really well right now,… Julien said.
Minnesota will give the start to Devan Dubnyk. The 6-foot-6 Dubnyk has played in all but one of Minny’s 17 games this season and has won 10 of his 16 appearances, and took the loss behind a 25-of-29 showing against the Pittsburgh Penguins in his last start. The 29-year-old Dubnyk has zero wins and an .855 save percentage in four career games against the Bruins.
The Bruins will counter with Jonas Gustavsson. This will be Gustavsson’s first start since Nov. 7’s 29-of-32 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre, and will be the 31-year-old’s TD Garden debut. Gustavsson has three wins and a .912 save percentage in four games with the Bruins this season, and comes into this one with one win and a .902 save percentage in two games vs. Minnesota.
Other news and notes
B’s defenseman Kevan Miller (upper-body) will be out of the lineup until at least Thanksgiving (in other words-- at least one week), according to the Bruins. The 28-year-old has one goal and five points in 17 games this season, as well as a thumping 45 hits and 34 blocked shots.
Miller’s exit from the lineup will throw Colin Miller, who had sat out the previous two games with a lower-body injury, back into the Boston mix. The 23-year-old Miller, a staple on Boston’s second power-play unit, has brought the offensive game the B’s had hoped for, with one goal and seven points (along with 24 shots on goal) in 14 games with the club. He’s expected to skate with Zdeno Chara.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.