Tuukka Rask, Torey Krug, Charlie Coyle and David Krejci They were among the Boston Bruins players who returned to training camp on Monday.
The goalkeeper, defender and strikers left on Saturday.
Forward Sean Kuraly and Nick Ritchie We also returned. The Bruins were without strikers David Pastrnak, Ondrej Kase and Chris Wagnerand defense Charlie McAvoy. It was the fourth consecutive practice missed by Pastrnak and Kase. As part of the NHL Back to Play Plan, a team may not disclose information about the player’s injuries or illnesses.
Nine players were absent on Saturday when Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy hoped to scrimmage the entire team. He had to go to each practice with two plans, one with a larger group and the other with missing players. He said it was important for the Bruins to play some 5-on-5 scrimmages, and that they had to work with smaller numbers than anticipated.
“I would like to have everyone on the ice at the same time for the continuity aspect,” Cassidy said. “We as coaches, we will adapt, we will make sure we get our job. It is the players who fail, especially those who are doing things the right way. You miss a practice for whatever reason, not your fault. I feel bad for them. “
Krug, Krejci, Kuraly, Coyle, Joakim Nordstrom and Rask skated on Sunday, a scheduled day off, and the Bruins are about a day behind what they expected to be at this point.
“Any player who loses a day here is no big deal,” general manager Don Sweeney said Sunday. “When you start missing weeks and weeks, that we’ve had a couple of players that will be in that category, you certainly have the rust that you will have to eliminate it.”
Pastrnak, who returned to the Czech Republic after the NHL season was halted on March 12 due to coronavirus-related concerns, missed the first two days of camping. Sweeney said his return was delayed due to quarantine rules for players arriving from Europe. Pastrnak practiced on July 15, but was declared “unfit to participate” the next day and has not practiced since then.
“From what I’ve talked to him, he seems to be in a good mood.” Jake DeBrusk said. “Obviously not the ideal situation. But from what I’ve talked to him, he’s still ‘Pasta’. He’s doing his thing. I’m not worried about him at all, to be honest with you.
“He wants to be out there as much as we want him out there.”
Pastrnak scored 48 goals this season, tying the NHL forward with the Washington Capitals forward. Alex Ovechkin.
“I don’t think there is concern there,” center Patrice bergeron said. “I think right now what we are trying to get out of the first week of practice and now next week is the pace, getting your hands back individually, but also collectively, is the system, the positioning and the feeling of 5 -in- 5 scrimmages again. It’s been a while for that.
“As for the chemistry now, is it ideal? No, it is not. But having said that, I think we … [Pastrnak] and[[[[Brad Marchand]- We’ve been playing together for a while and it seems like every time we get in a line together we’re finding the chemistry pretty quickly and it seems pretty perfect every time. We hope to trust that when [Pastrnak comes back]. Hopefully sooner rather than later. “
The Bruins, who finished with the best NHL record (44-14-12, .714 percentage points), will play the all-out part of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the central city. Eastern Conference, against the Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, .657), Capitals (41-20-8 .652) and Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, .645) to determine the classification for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boston’s first game is against Philadelphia on August 2.
“As we get closer to moving downtown,” said Sweeney, “we certainly would like to have the full component of our group at some point so that we can practice at the level and run at the level that we hope they will.” when we’re playing games. “
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