Injuries have been a bear for the Boston Bruins to overcome, but they soon might be getting some reinforcements.
B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy noted following Saturday’s practice that both David Backes and John Moore are nearing returns.
“Backes is close,” Cassidy said, via the team’s Twitter account. “He’s been cleared now, it’s about is his conditioning where it needs to be, has he practiced enough to feel comfortable going back into the lineup? So we’ll have those discussions, but very close obviously. That’s typically what happens — and we’ll put Johnny Moore in that conversation as well, he’s very close, he’s back into a normal colored jersey, so there’s a little comfort level for him too. So that’s good news on those two.”
Backes has been out since his scary collision with the Ottawa Senators’ Scott Sabourin on Nov. 2. While Backes’ injury has been described as an upper-body ailment, he also indicated that he had concussion-like symptoms.
For now though, he believes he’s good to play in a game as soon as Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden.
“The team was extremely supportive, and I’ve been given a clean bill of health,” Backes said, via Bruins.com. “You know my history as far as if I’m playing when I’m at full health or not. I’m hopefully going to be available as soon as (Sunday) and then it would be up to the powers that be whether 42 can slot into the game to help us win another one.”
Moore has not played since gutting out a shoulder injury last postseason. The veteran defenseman, who is on Year 2 of a five-year contract, sustained the injury at the end of the regular season, then elected to play through it so he could be available for the playoffs, instead of undergoing surgery. Once the season concluded, Moore underwent the surgery and has yet to play this campaign.
Puck drop for Canadiens-Bruins is set for 7 p.m. ET.
