Center takes two hits to head
The Bruins could be without Patrice Bergeron for their do-or-die Game 6 this afternoon at the Verizon Center.
There was no word on either the injury or its severity, but Bergeron, who has suffered three known concussions in his career, took what looked like an inadvertent elbow to the head from Alexander Semin and then banged the back of his head on the glass in the second period of yesterday?s 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Garden. He went off the ice and into the locker room but returned before the period was out.
But in the third period, Bergeron played only 1:30 on three shifts and took another heavy shot from Alex Ovechkin. Bergeron did not finish the game.
Coach Claude Julien did not give an update on Bergeron and wasn?t sure which hit did the damage.
?I get into a game, then I?m told that a guy is a little injured at that point and that?s all I know,? Julien said. ?I?m not quite sure whether it was (the Ovechkin) hit or whether it?s a hit that he had earlier that he kind of hit the glass, and that?s where I think it started, in my mind. So I?m not 100 percent sure on that.?
While Bergeron accompanied the team to Washington last night, it would be a huge loss if he cannot play.
?You don?t want to see anyone get injured,? said teammate Benoit Pouliot. ?When you have a guy like Bergy out it is tough. He is one of our best draw guys and one of our best offensive defensive guys. You don?t want to see Bergy go out. Sometimes the other guys just have to pick it up and we did that for most of the third period. It was just a bad bounce at the end.?
If Bergeron can?t play, Jordan Caron would most likely make his Stanley Cup debut, with Brian Rolston or Rich Peverley slotting into a center spot.
Julien also didn?t have an update on defenseman Joe Corvo, who took a shot off the inside of the right knee just prior to Semin?s goal in the second period. He went down the runway before returning to the bench, but did not play again. Like Bergeron, Corvo made the trip to Washington.
Pouliot not happy
Pouliot, as you might expect, was not thrilled with the game-changing penalty he took, a borderline slash on Nicklas Backstrom.
?Tough call,? Pouliot said. ?I will leave it to you guys, but it was a tough call to make at 2:50 in the game. It is a grind out there. Sometimes you get the calls and sometimes you don?t. It happened that they got it.?
Pouliot was trying to recover after Backstrom took the puck from him high in the defensive zone.
?I knew someone was going to be there. I just wanted to try to get it out as soon as I could. He kind of jumped me. I was trying to get the puck off of him,? Pouliot said. . . .
While locked up with Jason Chimera along the end boards and time running out in the first period, Zdeno Chara appeared to be dazed by an elbow that Chimera threw at his head. Chara was motionless for a couple of seconds, but eventually got up and played a team-high 27:03.
There was no penalty call.
?It is what it is,? said Chara, who added he was fine.
Torres ban hits home
The 25-game suspension to Phoenix forward Raffi Torres .....While the Bruins didn?t have a lot of time to digest the suspension before Game 5, Pouliot said the number of games was an attention-getter. Pouliot said the message from league vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan to the players was clear.
?No one wants to be suspended for 25 games and miss a good portion of the season,? Pouliot said. ?Players can see that (Shanahan) will do that and you don?t want to be in that boat.?verberated around the NHL, including the Garden.
The Bruins could be without Patrice Bergeron for their do-or-die Game 6 this afternoon at the Verizon Center.
There was no word on either the injury or its severity, but Bergeron, who has suffered three known concussions in his career, took what looked like an inadvertent elbow to the head from Alexander Semin and then banged the back of his head on the glass in the second period of yesterday?s 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Garden. He went off the ice and into the locker room but returned before the period was out.
But in the third period, Bergeron played only 1:30 on three shifts and took another heavy shot from Alex Ovechkin. Bergeron did not finish the game.
Coach Claude Julien did not give an update on Bergeron and wasn?t sure which hit did the damage.
?I get into a game, then I?m told that a guy is a little injured at that point and that?s all I know,? Julien said. ?I?m not quite sure whether it was (the Ovechkin) hit or whether it?s a hit that he had earlier that he kind of hit the glass, and that?s where I think it started, in my mind. So I?m not 100 percent sure on that.?
While Bergeron accompanied the team to Washington last night, it would be a huge loss if he cannot play.
?You don?t want to see anyone get injured,? said teammate Benoit Pouliot. ?When you have a guy like Bergy out it is tough. He is one of our best draw guys and one of our best offensive defensive guys. You don?t want to see Bergy go out. Sometimes the other guys just have to pick it up and we did that for most of the third period. It was just a bad bounce at the end.?
If Bergeron can?t play, Jordan Caron would most likely make his Stanley Cup debut, with Brian Rolston or Rich Peverley slotting into a center spot.
Julien also didn?t have an update on defenseman Joe Corvo, who took a shot off the inside of the right knee just prior to Semin?s goal in the second period. He went down the runway before returning to the bench, but did not play again. Like Bergeron, Corvo made the trip to Washington.
Pouliot not happy
Pouliot, as you might expect, was not thrilled with the game-changing penalty he took, a borderline slash on Nicklas Backstrom.
?Tough call,? Pouliot said. ?I will leave it to you guys, but it was a tough call to make at 2:50 in the game. It is a grind out there. Sometimes you get the calls and sometimes you don?t. It happened that they got it.?
Pouliot was trying to recover after Backstrom took the puck from him high in the defensive zone.
?I knew someone was going to be there. I just wanted to try to get it out as soon as I could. He kind of jumped me. I was trying to get the puck off of him,? Pouliot said. . . .
While locked up with Jason Chimera along the end boards and time running out in the first period, Zdeno Chara appeared to be dazed by an elbow that Chimera threw at his head. Chara was motionless for a couple of seconds, but eventually got up and played a team-high 27:03.
There was no penalty call.
?It is what it is,? said Chara, who added he was fine.
Torres ban hits home
The 25-game suspension to Phoenix forward Raffi Torres .....While the Bruins didn?t have a lot of time to digest the suspension before Game 5, Pouliot said the number of games was an attention-getter. Pouliot said the message from league vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan to the players was clear.
?No one wants to be suspended for 25 games and miss a good portion of the season,? Pouliot said. ?Players can see that (Shanahan) will do that and you don?t want to be in that boat.?verberated around the NHL, including the Garden.
