WILMINGTON, Mass. — The Bruins are getting back to full strength, as the flu bug that hit the team over the weekend appears to have run its course.
Jordan Caron, who missed the last two games with the illness, and David Krejci, who sat out Sunday’s loss in Atlanta, both returned to practice on Monday.
With their return, forward Jamie Arniel was returned to Providence. Arniel was called up on an emergency basis for the second time this season on Saturday and made his NHL debut against Atlanta on Sunday. He was one of the few bright spots in the loss, as he created several scoring chances while skating on a line with Greg Campbell and Brad Marchand. Arniel finished with three shots and was a minus-1 in 12:26.
Arniel, 21, rejoins Providence, where the 2008 fourth-round pick leads the P-Bruins with 9-7-16 totals in 19 games this season.
Also returning to practice on Monday was Marco Sturm, who continues to work his way back from offseason knee surgery. Sturm began practicing with the team again last week after skating on his own for several weeks, but did not work out on Saturday as he also was suffering from the flu.
While Sturm continues to skate with the team, he has still not been cleared for full contact in practice. That will be the next hurdle to clear before he can pinpoint a potential return date for game action.
Monday’s practice was run by assistant coaches Geoff Ward, Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis and Bob Essensa. Head coach Claude Julien was not present, as he was in Montreal to attend memorial services for Pat Burns, the former Bruins coach who died from cancer on Nov. 19.
