Banged Up B's Roughed Up By Capitals

BOSTON - The Bruins did not have much working in their favor on Sunday night.
Entering their contest against the Washington Capitals, the Black & Gold knew they'd be without four of their top six defensemen and their top two netminders. On top of the absences of Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Kevan Miller, Tuukka Rask, and Jaroslav Halak, Boston was set to finish off a stretch of five games in seven days.
Two points would be no easy task - that was quite clear from the start.

The Bruins fell into an early three-goal hole after the first period and never recovered, falling to the Caps, 8-1, at TD Garden in the team's worst loss of the season.
"I don't think these games are helpful to anybody, to be honest with you, unless your team was arrogant and winning all the time and needed to be taken down a notch," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We're obviously a team trying to play through a stretch here of a) a lot of hockey, and b) again, some new people in the lineup. Some young goaltenders, the last thing they need is eight on them.
"At the end of the day, I don't think it's going to help us a lot. Our start was going to be very important tonight, we had to find a way to stay in the game. We weren't able to do that and it snowballed on us."
As disappointing as the loss was, Cassidy was not interested in dwelling on the setback.
"Nothing, tonight," Cassidy said when asked about his message to the club. "We'll address it Tuesday. Tomorrow is a day off. We'll talk about what's ahead of us. We're not going to look back. Obviously, there are a lot of things there that we have to digest tonight.
"As a staff, obviously we always go through every game. So, we will. We'll talk about it probably Tuesday morning a little bit. Some of it will be evaluation. There are some guys that went in the lineup. See how they did against a real good hockey club that was obviously ready to go. And go from there, and we'll start getting ready for the [Buffalo]."

Rask "Getting Better"

Rask (upper body) skated on his own on Sunday morning and could be nearing a return to action. The netminder will hit the ice again on Monday, which is an off day for the remainder of the club.
"Obviously, getting better. Was on the road with us. Was in practice," said Cassidy. "He's on his schedule to get better, which involves, certainly, on-ice, [had a] full practice with us Friday. I've always said, once you're in full practice and you have no setbacks, that's a good thing.
"We'll see if he's ready for Tuesday. He's obviously getting closer. I can't tell you if it's going to Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday. That will be up to the medical team to let me know and Tuukka. And when he's ready, he'll go back in there."

Battered Blue Line

Miller, who said earlier this week that he is likely to be out for the second night of back-to-backs moving forward, sat out for maintenance on his surgically repaired knee. He is expected back in the lineup on Tuesday night.
McAvoy (upper body) skated on Sunday "so that's a positive," per Cassidy. "With tomorrow being an off day, we'll have to see where he's at for Tuesday."
Grzelcyk (upper body) remains day-to-day, while Carlo is still considered week-to-week.

Getting Their Shot

The majority of the Bruins roster has yet to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, per Cassidy, though the B's bench boss said recently that he expects that there could be a plan in place for those who want to receive the shot once the general public becomes eligible in Massachusetts on April 19.
Cassidy revealed that he and some of the other members of the coaching staff have received their first shots of the vaccine.

Big Zee Feted

When Zdeno Chara first returned to Boston in March, he did so in front of an empty TD Garden. As such, Sunday's game marked the first time that the Bruins faithful - albeit only about 2,000 of them - could show the former Boston captain their appreciation.
Chara, who spent 14 seasons with the Bruins before leaving via free agency last December, received a standing ovation as a video tribute played on the Garden's video board.
"It was great for him to have that with the fans," said Patrice Bergeron, Chara's successor as captain. "I think they played that video last time around but there's nobody in the building, doesn't have that same feel. I know it's only 12 percent capacity, but he deserves that.
"He's done so much for the organization and the game of hockey and he's still doing that. I thought the fans had a great response and I was happy for him."