Rookie Clifton steps in with Krug out
Moore will also see added ice time
Bruins defensemen Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug did not practice with the team on Monday and will miss tonight’s encounter with the surging Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Bruins coach Bruce
Cassidy said that rookie defenseman Connor Clifton was activated from IR and will start alongside John Moore on the third unit.
Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy remain on first unit while Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon will likely see their ice time increase.
“Cliffy will go in and Torey and Brandon are out,” said Cassidy following team practice at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton. “He hasn’t played here for a while and will have to find his game. He’ ll have to stay within himself early and make simple decisions and hopefully initiate plays early.”
Clifton last played on Dec. 29 and has missed 29 straight games with an upper body injury. He recently concluded his conditioning assignments with the Providence Bruins and is anxious to get back.
“Obviously it has been a long wait and injuries suck but they happen and I’ve been battling back ever since,” said Clifton. “I know it is not going to be perfect but I’m pretty fresh so I’m going to keep my legs moving, keep it simple and limit mistakes.”
Carlo took an elbow to the head from Florida Panthers’ Evgenil Dadonov in the second period of the Bruins overtime win on March 3. A fixture on the Bruins penalty kill who averages 20:28 minutes per game. Carlo did not participate in the Bruins’ 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night at the TD Garden.
Gone viral
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron can’t imagine playing an NHL game in an empty building.
Discussions are underway at all levels of sports about banning fan participation in response to the coronavirus that has steadily infected all regions of the Unites States.
Bergeron has been in touch with former Bruins’ first round draft pick Jordan Caron, who competes for Geneve Servette HC in Switzerland, where games have been played in empty rinks.
“That’s been tossed around a bit and I know they did it in Europe,” said Bergeron. “That would be tough obviously and we often say they are the seventh-player, they are the guys we are playing for. We are playing for ourselves obviously for the love of the game. But also play for the atmosphere and the energy and they are the one that create it and it would be a big void.” Switching sides
When Cassidy reconfigured his two middle lines to accommodate the recent acquisitions of wingers Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase, Jake DeBrusk crossed over from left wing on the second line to right wing on the third.
The two newcomers have been aligned with veteran center David Krejci while DeBrusk skates with center Charlie Coyle and left wing Sean Kuraly.
“There are definitely different tendencies with different players,” said DeBrusk. “With Krejci were we a production line as a group but they changed and I like playing with Charlie. It’s just a matter of playing my game no matter who I’m skating with. You try to get used to it, but it’s kind of a shuffle.”