BOSTON — The Bruins will play their second game without injured center David Krejci on Thursday. It's still not certain how many more games the talented playmaker will miss, but Bruins coach Claude Julien has been encouraged by the progress Krejci has made since suffering a concussion against St. Louis on Saturday.
"I saw him this morning and he continues to improve," said Julien in his pre-game press briefing before Thursday's game against Montreal. "I think in the next day or two there's a good chance we'll hopefully have some positive news. He's going in the right direction right now."
Julien noted that Krejci has yet to resume any physical activity and has not taken the neuro-psych test he will need to pass before playing again, but he hasn't suffered any setbacks either.
"I don't think he's taken that [test] so far," said Julien. "He's got to get on the bike at some point, see how much he can tolerate. Obviously before he can come back to play he's going to have to take that test at some point and time.
"But he hasn't taken any steps backwards either, which is what we're looking at mostly," added Julien. "When you get a concussion like that you have to stop doing things for a little bit. What's encouraging right now is that every day things are getting better. That's a good sign."
Krejci was injured in a collision with Blues forward T.J. Oshie early in overtime, with Krejci slamming his head on the boards as he went down. It was a scary sight for a team already without center Marc Savard, who continues to work his way back from post-concussion syndrome symptoms after last March's cheap shot by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke. Bruins center Patrice Bergeron also missed almost all of the 2007-08 season with a severe concussion, but Krejci's injury is not believed to be nearly as serious as either of those concussions.
"There's not much you can say when a guy's got a concussion," said Julien. "It's a slow progress, but as long as it keeps going in the right direction it's encouraging. We hope in the next few days he takes another big step forward."
