Cassidy did say that both Marchand and McAvoy "have a chance" to play in South Bend on Tuesday. "We're not ruling them out. They're both on the trip for a reason," Cassidy added.
Backes, meanwhile, was handed a three-game ban on Friday night for an illegal check to the head on New Jersey's Blake Coleman during the third period of Boston's 5-2 loss on Thursday. It is the veteran forward's second suspension in the last nine months, following a three-game ban in March for a hit on Detroit's Frans Nielsen.
"I think there's some disagreement in the length of suspension," said Backes, who is eligible to return against the Sabres on Jan. 5. "That's their call unilaterally and they've made it. We deal with it, so got a skate in today and we'll get to South Bend for practice tomorrow and do the same thing over again, and have some family come in town and enjoy the Winter Classic from a different perspective than we thought we would."
The 34-year-old admitted that there was some head contact on the play, but said he was not trying to deliver a "momentum-changing hit," especially given the situation of the game.
"Time and score, it's 4-2. I'm on the ice with [Patrice Bergeron] and March...think it's gonna be a race for the puck and all of a sudden I'm second to it, now I'm looking to stop him from skating out of the zone and putting it in an empty net," said Backes. "There's certainly some contact to the head, there's a little bit of contact with a glove and a shoulder right before that. He pops right up and scores an empty-netter maybe a minute later.
"The force of the play is not enough for a concussion spotter to pull him out of the game, a trainer to pull him out of the game, or ref to pull him out of the game at that point."
