No news was not necessarily good news on Thursday, as the Bruins could provide little update on the status of injured defenseman Adam McQuaid and center David Krejci. Neither is likely to play Saturday when the Bruins take on the Blackhawks in a clash of the last two Stanley Cup champions in Chicago.
McQuaid was injured Wednesday night in Carolina when he fell awkwardly and hit his head on the boards midway through the third period. He appeared dazed and, after initially staying on the bench, was helped back to the locker room and did not return.
“He’s still being evaluated right now,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters in Carolina before the team departed for Chicago. “I don’t think we have any specifics as we speak so we are going to keep monitoring him and go from there. I know he’s with us and he’s going to stay with us here and we’ll see what develops further.”
The Bruins did not practice on Thursday, getting the day off as they head to Chicago to complete their two-game road trip. Julien did confirm that McQuaid would be making the trip with the club.
“He’s coming with us,” Julien said. “He’s going to be with us. That’s why there’s nothing I can give more than what we have right now. It’s being monitored and looked at and we’re not 100 percent sure what it is yet.”
Krejci, who suffered what the team called a “core injury” in practice on Tuesday and did not make the trip to Carolina, is expected to miss the Chicago game as well. Julien had left open the possibility of Krejci joining the team in Chicago when he updated the center’s condition on Wednesday, but on Thursday Julien said he was not expecting to see Krejci until the team returned to Boston.
“It doesn’t look like he’s going to join us in Chicago,” Julien said. “It looks like it’s going to be a little bit longer. Day to day is a few days at least until we get back, and then we’ll be able to see where he is at that point.”
Tyler Seguin filled in admirably in Krejci’s spot on the top line on Wednesday, scoring one of Boston’s two goals in a 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes. He’ll likely remain in that spot against the Blackhawks. Jordan Caron struggled a bit in his return to the lineup with Krejci out, as a Caron turnover led to what proved the game-winner for Carolina, but he will also likely remain in the lineup.
Matt Bartkowski will get the call on defense if McQuaid cannot play. Caron and Bartkowski are the only extra bodies on the roster, so the Bruins won’t have any healthy scratches, but Julien does not expect any reinforcements to be called up from Providence at this time.
“Not as we speak,” Julien said. “There’s nothing that I’ve been told or that we’ve talked about. Right now what we have here is what we’ve got.”
