WILMINGTON, Mass. — Boston Bruins center David Krejci, who’s missed the last 15 games with a knee injury, practiced again Wednesday and remained on the Patrice Bergeron line alongside Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille. Krejci and Paille alternated at the right wing spot.
Bruins head coach Claude Julien didn’t confirm Krejci’s status for Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks at TD Garden. Krejci said “we’ll see” when asked if he’ll return Thursday, but he’s encouraged by the last two days of practice.
“It was a very good day, so I’m happy with how the skate went,” Krejci said. “I felt pretty good the last two days, so hopefully it keeps improving and I’ll be good to go. But we still got more than 24 hours before the game. But like I said, I’m pretty happy with the last two days.”
The Bruins have so many centers on their roster right now, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Krejci or another center play on the wing over the final nine games of the regular season.
Krejci also skated with the first power-play unit, which he played on before his injury. He took Dougie Hamilton’s spot at the right point, with Torey Krug at the left point and Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson and Ryan Spooner up front. This unit has created lots of scoring chances since it was formed during the Western Canada road trip in mid-February.
The second power-play unit featured Reilly Smith and Zdeno Chara at the points, with Milan Lucic, David Pastrnak and Carl Soderberg up front. Zach Trotman alternated with Smith at one of the points on the second unit.
Here are the lines and pairings used at practice:
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Krejci/Dan Paille
Milan Lucic-Ryan Spooner-David Pastrnak
Loui Eriksson-Carl Soderberg-Reilly Smith
Max Talbot-Chris Kelly/Gregory Campbell-Brian Ferlin
Zdeno Chara-Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug-Dennis Seidenberg
Matt Bartkowski-Zach Trotman
Tuukka Rask, Niklas Svedberg
Thumbnail photo via Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
