Apr 3, 2018; Tampa, FL, USA;Boston Bruins center David Krejci during the first period at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
After skating just 4:43 in Monday’s win over the Ducks, David Krejci returned to the ice and skated for half of Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, but is officially up in the air for Thursday’s head-to-head with the rival Lightning.
“He’s nursing an upper-body injury, so he skated half the practice,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said following Wednesday’s on-ice session. “Tomorrow, he’ll see how he is. I’d put him as day-to-day.”
The potentially good news is that Krejci’s injury doesn’t appear to be related to the ailment that kept him out of the final week of the preseason and the B’s Opening Night win in Dallas, as that injury was considered a “lower-body” injury. There’s also the fact that Krejci did indeed skate with his teammates — even if it wasn’t for all of practice — two days after the injury.
But it’s not enough for Cassidy to officially pencil Krejci in or out of his lineup on Thursday.
“I’m not going to rule him out tomorrow, but I’m not going to definitely say he’s in,” said Cassidy.
If Krejci is unable to go, the Bruins appear set to ice a second line that features Charlie Coyle between Jake DeBrusk and Brett Ritchie, while Par Lindholm would move to the middle of a line with Danton Heinen and Karson Kuhlman on the wings.
The 33-year-old Krejci — and the rest of the Boston middle-six forward group, for that matter — has been off to a slow start in 2019-20, with one assist and six shots on goal through his first five games of the year.
