The Boston Bruins had both Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton back on the ice for practice Monday morning, but it’s unclear if either will be present when the B’s host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Chara, who sat out Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators with an undisclosed injury, participated in the first half of practice before exiting the ice. Head coach Claude Julien told reporters that the team has not made a decision regarding the captain’s status for the game against the Isles.
“He’s progressing, and we’ll make a decision depending on how he is [Tuesday],” Julien said, via ESPN.com.
Hamilton, meanwhile, likely will not be in uniform Tuesday night, as Monday’s practice was his first since suffering a lower-body injury on Dec. 8 that has sidelined him for the last three weeks. The 20-year-old could make his return to game action by the end of the week, though, which would be a huge boost for a battered defense corps that just lost Dennis Seidenberg to a season-ending knee injury.
Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg were both back on the ice at Ristuccia Arena, as well, though neither participated in practice. Soderberg, who was suffering from post-concussion symptoms after a collision with Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson on Friday, did not travel with the team to Ottawa over the weekend. Eriksson has not played since taking an elbow to the head from Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik during a game on Dec. 7, a hit that resulted in the winger’s second concussion of the season.
Neither are expected to play Tuesday night.
“He skated, just a light skate here to see how he’s doing,” Julien said of Eriksson. “These kinds of things are day-to-day.”
