Yeah, I know. They aren't playing today but this could be big...in a bad way.
Finger hampers Hackett
WILMINGTON - Feeling pretty good about themselves as they hit the road last night, having collected 11 of a possible 14 points in their last seven games, the Bruins had a new problem to deal with: the possible loss of goaltender Jeff Hackett with a finger injury.
Hackett was struck by a shot on his right hand during warmups before the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at the FleetCenter on Saturday. He nearly did not play, but somehow provided a solid 24-save performance. Yesterday morning, though, the finger was badly swollen and discolored.
``He sucked it up and played, and played obviously very well,'' B's coach Robbie Ftorek said. ``Now we're just trying to find out if he's bruised or in trouble.''
Minutes before the Bruins' charter flight departed Hanscom Field last night for Phoenix, where they open a three-game trip tomorrow night against the Coyotes, B's general manager Mike O'Connell said he did not yet know the extent of Hackett's injury.
``He had an X-ray (Saturday) after it happened, but the X-ray was inconclusive,'' O'Connell said. ``So he went for an MRI (yesterday). We're still waiting for the results. Jeff isn't going on the trip. He'll stay and see a hand specialist (today). I'm not going to reach any conclusions until we get the diagnosis.
``I feel bad for the guy. There were some things that he had to take care of in his game and he has taken care of them. He's looked more comfortable and confident lately, and, of course, he's not getting the same sort of wide-open shots he was seeing.''
Bruins players hoped Hackett does not have a broken finger, which could sideline him for several weeks. They also expressed confidence in backup Steve Shields.
``I think Shieldsie is ready to step in there,'' forward Glen Murray said. ``And maybe it's nothing with Hack. We'll see. He was able to play (Saturday), maybe that's a good sign.''
Rookie Andrew Raycroft joined the team for the trip, but Shields would figure to get most, if not all, the starts in Hackett's absence.
``We've played a lot of games with Shieldsie,'' Mike Knuble said. ``It'd be different if Hack had played 60 or the 70 games and Shields had hardly played. But the guys have just as much confidence in Shields, and in (Andrew) Raycroft, too.''
Facing Phoenix, San Jose and Los Angeles, three teams with little or no hope for a playoff spot, the Bruins figure this should be a good opportunity to turn around their road play.
Since opening the campaign 8-2-2-1 in their first 13 away games, the Bruins have gone an abysmal 4-15-2-1 since.
``With these are three games, on paper, we should do very well,'' Knuble said. ``We don't get to play them on paper. We've got to go play them. We've got tough games coming up after this trip. If we want to gain the sixth spot (in the East), we've got to get as many points out west as we can.
``We can really help ourselves on this trip, really makes things easier for us.''
Being on the road should make it easier for the Bruins to play the sort of simple, safe hockey that they rarely produced in recent weeks, at least not for 60 minutes. The team played somewhat better recently, though not as well as the recent record, 5-1-0-1, might suggest.
``We've been playing not bad,'' Murray said. ``It seems to be getting back. I think we know it's 10 games left and it's crunch time. We have to minimize mistakes. It's getting there. It's not there yet.''
Finger hampers Hackett
WILMINGTON - Feeling pretty good about themselves as they hit the road last night, having collected 11 of a possible 14 points in their last seven games, the Bruins had a new problem to deal with: the possible loss of goaltender Jeff Hackett with a finger injury.
Hackett was struck by a shot on his right hand during warmups before the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at the FleetCenter on Saturday. He nearly did not play, but somehow provided a solid 24-save performance. Yesterday morning, though, the finger was badly swollen and discolored.
``He sucked it up and played, and played obviously very well,'' B's coach Robbie Ftorek said. ``Now we're just trying to find out if he's bruised or in trouble.''
Minutes before the Bruins' charter flight departed Hanscom Field last night for Phoenix, where they open a three-game trip tomorrow night against the Coyotes, B's general manager Mike O'Connell said he did not yet know the extent of Hackett's injury.
``He had an X-ray (Saturday) after it happened, but the X-ray was inconclusive,'' O'Connell said. ``So he went for an MRI (yesterday). We're still waiting for the results. Jeff isn't going on the trip. He'll stay and see a hand specialist (today). I'm not going to reach any conclusions until we get the diagnosis.
``I feel bad for the guy. There were some things that he had to take care of in his game and he has taken care of them. He's looked more comfortable and confident lately, and, of course, he's not getting the same sort of wide-open shots he was seeing.''
Bruins players hoped Hackett does not have a broken finger, which could sideline him for several weeks. They also expressed confidence in backup Steve Shields.
``I think Shieldsie is ready to step in there,'' forward Glen Murray said. ``And maybe it's nothing with Hack. We'll see. He was able to play (Saturday), maybe that's a good sign.''
Rookie Andrew Raycroft joined the team for the trip, but Shields would figure to get most, if not all, the starts in Hackett's absence.
``We've played a lot of games with Shieldsie,'' Mike Knuble said. ``It'd be different if Hack had played 60 or the 70 games and Shields had hardly played. But the guys have just as much confidence in Shields, and in (Andrew) Raycroft, too.''
Facing Phoenix, San Jose and Los Angeles, three teams with little or no hope for a playoff spot, the Bruins figure this should be a good opportunity to turn around their road play.
Since opening the campaign 8-2-2-1 in their first 13 away games, the Bruins have gone an abysmal 4-15-2-1 since.
``With these are three games, on paper, we should do very well,'' Knuble said. ``We don't get to play them on paper. We've got to go play them. We've got tough games coming up after this trip. If we want to gain the sixth spot (in the East), we've got to get as many points out west as we can.
``We can really help ourselves on this trip, really makes things easier for us.''
Being on the road should make it easier for the Bruins to play the sort of simple, safe hockey that they rarely produced in recent weeks, at least not for 60 minutes. The team played somewhat better recently, though not as well as the recent record, 5-1-0-1, might suggest.
``We've been playing not bad,'' Murray said. ``It seems to be getting back. I think we know it's 10 games left and it's crunch time. We have to minimize mistakes. It's getting there. It's not there yet.''
