Krug ready to take another big step
Even with the 2-for-2 performance in Ottawa on Tuesday, the Bruins’ power-play could use a little boost. And one could be on the way fairly soon. Torey Krug, who has yet to play this year because of an ankle injury, has been skating for over a week. He participated in yesterday’s morning skate –typically a short, no-contact affair –- and is scheduled to take another step forward today for the B’s full practice. The best estimate has Krug returning next week against Carolina or Nashville. “(Tomorrow against the Canadiens) seems like a stretch, but I wouldn’t rule it out because once he starts skating, it becomes a comfort level for him and the doctors clear him. Sometime next week is a better guess. But again, it’s just a guess,” B’s coach Bruce Cassidy said. Krug went to Ottawa earlier this week to be with the team. A travel issue prevented him from practicing on Monday at Canadian Tire Centre but he did take part in Tuesday’s morning skate. He should get a little bit of contact in today’s session. “Every day I’m just trying to do a little bit more and ramp things up. We’re working on it and once I feel ready to go, and once I get in there, hopefully I can make a difference,” Krug said. Krug was held back from the China trip as he finished rehabbing the broken ankle he suffered in the playoffs against Tampa Bay last season. But after playing one preseason game against Detroit, Krug suffered another ankle injury against Philadelphia and he’s been out of the lineup since then. The dynamic defenseman has had a run of bad luck. Last preseason he suffered a broken jaw and had to wear a football helmet-like protector for a short time that made puck-handling difficult. That had it challenges, but this injury speaks more to Krug’s bread-and-butter. “This is tough because the aspect of my game that kind of drives everything else is my skating. That’s why this is a tough injury,” Krug said. “The jaw protector was annoying more than anything, but getting my game up to speed was OK. I remember it took me a few games to get back into it with that and then once I got that jaw protector off, my game was off a little bit. This is a tough one for sure, but I’m working.” With all the hockey that he’s missed, Krug will no doubt need time to get up to speed, even after he returns to the lineup. “I need to play games. That’s the only way you can get into game shape,” Krug said. “I went through a little bit of training camp. You can ride the bike all day long. You can skate on your own up and down the ice, but there’s nothing like playing a game, down in the corners and the physical aspect of it. That’s the tough part of the situation I’m in. I only played one preseason game since the first week in May. It’s the tough part about it but you just have to put your head down and go to work and hopefully feel as good as I can.” At least now Krug can see getting in some games in his near future.