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Bruins suffer a potential big loss in Colorado*UPDATED |
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If someone put a voodoo on the Bruins d-core, it’s worked out quite well.
Already without Kevan Miller, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Urho Vaakanainen, the Bruins lost another defenseman Wednesday night.
Captain Zdeno Chara left Wednesday’s 6-3 loss with a lower-body injury. Chara logged just 5:24 of ice time before leaving the game in the first period.
“All they told me was that he was out for the rest of the night,” Cassidy said. “Usually that takes a day to get looked at, whether that's in Dallas or he has to go home, I have no idea. I'm sure we'll have more news on it tomorrow [Thursday]”
Chara was seen leaving the Pepsi Center with a limp and a brace on his left knee.
Of the injured defensemen, Miller is the only one who joined the Bruins on their trip, but Miller is not expected back until Wednesday in Detroit at the earliest.
Despite the lack of a diagnosis on Chara, it’s seems unlikely he will be ready to go Friday night in Dallas. As a result, Jakub Zboril is expected to make his NHL debut after being recalled from Providence on Tuesday.
Taking a stab at what the Bruins parings will be Friday without Chara in the lineup provides a scary result.
Moore-Grzelcyk
Krug-Kampfer
Lauzon-Zboril
If how things went for the Bruins after Chara left is any indication of things to come without Chara, the Bruins are in trouble. In Chara’s absence, the Avalanche outshot the Bruins 18-13, out-chanced them and outscored them 5-1. Outside of the stats, the Bruins were bunkered down in their own zone, looking like a team defensively lost without Chara.
Torey Krug led all Bruins skaters with 25:22 of time on ice, while Matt Grzelcyk came in just behind Krug with 24:29. John Moore and Jeremy Lauzon both logged over 20 minutes while Steven Kampfer finished with 16:31.
The Bruins have a scheduled day off Thursday, so any update on Chara may not come until Friday in Dallas.
Things were looking good for the Bruins who jumped out to a two-goal lead behind a pair of goals from Jake DeBrusk, and David Pastrnak’s league leading 17th of the season. But once Chara went down, the floodgates opened, allowing the Avalanche to score four unanswered third period goals.
The game was highlighted by the battle of arguably the game’s two best top lines, a battle won by Colorado’s top trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. Each of the three scored in the victory, combining for six points.
One good thing to come from the loss was the play of DeBrusk. The second-year forward was the Bruins best, scoring his 6th and 7th goals of the season.
After three points—all goals—in 12 October games, DeBrusk has heated up in November. In six November contests, DeBrusk has four goals and two assists. With his improved play, the second line as a unit has become more reliable for the Bruins. For a team so top heavy as the Bruins, they so badly needed their second line to get going.
David Backes picked up his first point of the season, assisting on Pastrnak’s power play goal.
UPDATED 11/15 8:00PM
Chara has been sent back to Boston for further evaluation per the Bruins. With Chara out for the weekend, the Bruins have recalled Connor Clifton from Providence.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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