BOSTON — There were a couple of familiar faces out on the ice at the Garden on Saturday, much to the delight of their Bruins teammates.
Defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who is recovering from a fractured forearm, joined his teammates in the morning skate for the first time. That followed a private workout for David Krejci, who skated with rehabbing Marco Sturm (knee surgery) for the first time since suffering a concussion last Saturday against St. Louis.
Saturday home games have been rough on the Bruins, as Boychuk was injured on a slash from Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky three weeks ago in another Saturday night game at the Garden.
But this Saturday finally brought some good news on the injury front.
"I think both [Krejci and Boychuk] are progressing well," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "David started his exertion tests yesterday as we mentioned. He got on a bike and felt good enough today, so that he moved on to getting on the ice and skating a little bit today. I guess that result we’ll get later on as the day progresses and how he feels and whether he feels good tomorrow. So those are the things that he’s going through. So far everything is going in the right direction for him.
"[With] Johnny, it’s the same thing," added Julien. "He started skating with the team today and got some shots. He’s capable of shooting now a little bit and everything else. So he’s progressing well and I guess these next few days will determine how close he is to starting to play again."
Boychuk was expected to miss four weeks, which would put him in line for a return next weekend. After testing the arm in the morning skate, Boychuk remains optimistic about keeping that schedule.
"It felt pretty good," said Boychuk. "It felt pretty good to be out there with the guys. I've just got to get used to the tempo. I haven't played for three weeks, so I've just got to get used to playing with the guys again and making breakout passes again."
After skating with Sturm and Marc Savard on Friday, Boychuk stated he had felt pain when he attempted backhand passes and shots, but he tried some backhanders on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised with the results.
"I actually did and it didn't feel that bad at all," said Boychuk. "It didn't feel weak or [get] any pinches or anything, so that was good."
Boychuk also doesn't appear to have lost any power in his patented booming slap shot.
"If anything, his slap shot looked harder today," said forward Blake Wheeler. "I might need to get a cast on me for a little bit."
Boychuk doesn't advise that, and wondered if Wheeler's memory might be a bit shoddy.
"I don't know about that," said Boychuk when told of Wheeler's comments. "He hasn't seen me for a while, so he might not be used to it."
