The Bruins still will be a bit shorthanded when they return from their week-long break Saturday.
Boston was without Jake DeBrusk (hand, lower-body) and Tomas Nosek (non-displaced foot fracture) before the All-Star break. Jim Montgomery was hopeful to have DeBrusk back for the Bruins’ game against the Washington Capitals, but he’s not quite ready.
Nosek, meanwhile, still was about a week away from being evaluated.
Montgomery revealed to reporters after Thursday’s practice — that DeBrusk missed due to travel issues — that the forward was “unlikely” to play because he wasn’t where the Bruins hoped he’d be at this point in his recovery.
“… Everything with his rehab except what we need to see. His thumb’s 100%, it’s just we haven’t seen the imaging yet that will say we’re comfortable putting him back in,” Montgomery told reporters at Warrior Ice Arena after Friday’s practice. “… We’re hoping for Tuesday but we’re not gonna take any chances. If he’s not ready for Nashville, we’re not gonna go then either.”
Montgomery added that the Bruins knew ahead of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 1 that DeBrusk would not be ready to face the Washington Capitals. And if their game Tuesday against the Dallas Stars isn’t doable then Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators would be realistic because that would be the six-week mark of DeBrusk’s injury.
As for Nosek, it will be a little bit longer until the Bruins have him back on the ice.
“He skated one day. It didn’t go well,” Montgomery told reporters. “So he’s off ice. We’re gonna wait a little bit.”
The Bruins recalled Jakub Lauko on Thursday and he will play on the fourth line while Nosek continues to recover.
Boston drops the puck with the Caps at 3:30 p.m. ET at TD Garden on Saturday.
