Chara closes in but remains out

BRUINS NOTEBOOK

The Bruins fared reasonably well in the absence of key defenseman Zdeno Chara, going 2-2-1 while he sits with an undisclosed injury. They will have to try again on the road this afternoon against Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres, as Chara misses his sixth game.

Chara looked fairly able in going through the B’s full practice yesterday, but it was announced afterward he would not accompany the team to Buffalo.

“I think he’s getting pretty close,” said B’s coach Claude Julien. “You see him in practice and things are going well for him. I think the term day-to-day is really fitting right now. To be honest with you (there are) times when (we) say dayto-day and we don’t know whether it’s two days, three days or a week. With his case, I would say day-today is really day-to-day.”

The B’s play at home Monday night against the Florida Panthers. For his part, Chara clearly wasn’t feeling too chatty about his status.

“Day-to-day,” he said. “Day-to-day. I’m feeling better, yeah, but it’s still day-to-day.”

What has to happen for him to play?

“Be ready to play,” he said. How will that happen? “Feel probably much better than it feels,” he said. “I’m not there yet, so it’s day-to-day.”

The team also remains without defenseman JohnMichael Liles, who will miss his third game with a concussion.

Another rookie

It appears Swedish winger Anton Blidh will become the seventh Bruin to make his NHL debut this season with only a little over onequarter finished.

The speedy 21-year-old was recalled from Providence and skated as the fourth-line left winger in practice. In 19 AHL games, he has 5-4-9 totals and a plus-8. He played two seasons in the top pro league in Sweden.

“He’s playing well,” said Julien. “He’s certainly a guy who plays with a lot of energy. I didn’t mind him in training camp. He worked hard all the time, he competes hard, and we can use that.”

Julien, on the large number of youngsters making their debuts: “It’s what we’ve been dealt with as far as injuries and having to give some guys opportunities. It’s just one of those things. It’s nice to see at least that we have some depth and those guys are capable of coming in and playing for us.”

Taking offense

The Bruins, having scored only 19 goals in their last 10 games, spent most of practice working on their offensive flow and netfront finish.

“When you only give up a goal or two goals a game you want to continue doing that, playing well defensively, but at the other end you want to give your goaltender the opportunity to win some games by scoring some goals,” said Julien. “I think we have a number of players who definitely can score goals. Right now it’s not going in for us. We’re doing our best from a coaching point of view to help the team have confidence and help make that happen.” . . .

Patrice Bergeron did not practice, but Julien said he’s OK and would meet the team for the charter flight to Buffalo. Ryan Spooner filled in as the top line center. . . .

Winger Frank Vatrano, out all season after surgery in late September to repair torn ligaments in his left foot, was again on the ice before practice. He has worked hard and looks good, but there’s been no timetable for his return. . . .

Center Noel Acciari, who’s missed 12 games (suspected knee sprain), was nearly a full participant in practice.

Eichel’s back

The Bruins disposed of the Sabres rather easily on Nov. 7 at the Garden, 4-0, but the Buffalo challenge got significantly more difficult this week as secondyear center Eichel returned to the lineup.

The 20-year-old from North Chelmsford and Boston University missed the first 21 games with a highankle sprain, but has made a splashy return.

In his first game back Tuesday in Ottawa, he posted a goal and an assist in the Sabres’ 4-3 win. And Thursday in Buffalo he delighted the home crowd by scoring twice in the Sabres’ 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers.

“It just kind of shows what kind of player he can be, what kind of player he is,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said after Thursday’s victory. “He’s a dynamic player and he brings so much to our team with speed and attack. And everyone feeds off it.”