Zdeno Chara has taken a beating in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Boston Bruins captain wore a painful shot block in the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, and was bloodied in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final after blocking a shot off of his wrist.
Chara was cut open again in the Game 4, this time taking a puck off his mouth after it caught a piece of his stick. He returned to the bench for the third period, but did not take a shift, as the Bruins suffered a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
After the game Bruce Cassidy gave a grim update on the Bruins captain, and was unable to say anything in regards to the d-man’s status for Game 5.
“Well we clearly know he got a puck in the face. Very uncomfortable,” Cassidy told reporters via CLNS Media. “Was advised not to return to play. (He) had some stitches, probably some dental work in the near future. He wanted to come out on the bench and be with his teammates. That’s why he was out there.
“I don’t know his status for Game 5,” Cassidy added. “I mean obviously when he gets back home hell have to reevaluated, see how he feels tomorrow for starters. … I can’t say whether he’ll play in Game 5 or not. I have no idea.”
This is the second time this series the Bruins have had to play nearly 40 minutes down a defenseman. They have lost both games.
Should Chara not be able to return for Game 5, and Matt Grzelcyk remains out, the Bruins may have to get creative to fill out their blue line.
Here are some other notes from Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final:
— Tuukka Rask continued his solid play with 34 saves in the loss. But, all three Blues goals he allowed came on rebound opportunities in which a Blues forward beat a Bruin to the puck. That drew the ire of Cassidy.
“When you get rebound goals, you’re usually getting inside. So that’s where it starts,” Cassidy told Jack Edwards on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Then you’re usually putting pucks on net and you’re getting favorable bounces sometimes.
“There’s some big forwards on that team, so if they get inside of you, it’s tough to recover,” Cassidy added. “So you gotta make sure you work to the ice first. That’s where I thought they were better than us, tonight. They won more races. And that should be a strength of ours and it didn’t happen tonight.”
— With Chara out, Torey Krug took on the brunt of the extra minutes.
Krug, who followed up his historic Game 3 with a minus-3 Monday night, logging 24:11 on ice. That was second only to Charlie McAvoy’s 25:51.
— Brandon Carlo scored his first career playoff goal.
The blueliner evened the game in the second period, netting a shorthanded marker. He became the 20th different goal scorer for the Bruins in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
— The Blues made franchise history with their victory.
The win served as the first Stanley Cup Final win on home turf.
