Zdeno Chara is poised to return Thursday night after missing 19 games with a knee injury, and the Boston Bruins couldn't be happier to have him back as the team limped along to...
...an 11-7-1 record? Without Chara? Really?
How did the Bruins manage to not only stay afloat without a generational defenseman for nearly one-fifth of the season but play at about a 100-point pace over that time? After all, not only was Chara missing, but David Krejci and Adam McQuaid were out for most of that stretch too.
As with anything, a mix of luck and skill played a role in the Bruins' success in Chara's absence.
First, the luck. And there was quite a bit of it.
The Bruins had soft spots in their schedule during those 19 games without Chara and took advantage of them. In seven games against teams that are below the NHL's definition of .500, the Bruins went 7-0-0. The Bruins defeated Buffalo, Columbus, Carolina, New Jersey, Edmonton, Ottawa and Arizona by a combined 28-15.
The obvious weakness on the back end was exploited far more often by the league's better teams, as the Bruins went a mea ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Dave Lozo
What Getting Captain Zdeno Chara Back from Injury Means to the Boston Bruins
December 11th, 2014 by Dave Lozo Leave a reply »
Advertisement