Coach Claude Julien said, "He's day-to-day. I think he's pretty doubtful for these next two games. After that, we'll see."
But, despite not having the services of their best defenseman, Liles is confident in the Bruins' ability to continue playing the tight defensive structure that has given them so much success this season.
"In the last little while, everyone together as a group has really come together and embraced our identity and the style of play we wan to emphasize," Liles said Wednesday morning following practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
"I think that's one of the reasons we've had success. Losing Zee is a big loss, but if we continue to play the style that we've really focused on the last little while, we can continue to have success."
Julien, whose team is sixth in the league in goals allowed (2.32 per game), issued a similar assessment of what he expects from his team during Chara's absence.
"We have to do it by committee," said Julien. "We're going to have to have everybody step up. We just lost our best defender. Teams hate playing against him and that's the kind of impact he's got. There's no individual that's going to step up and do his job. We're going to have to do it as a group."
As tough as it is to lose Chara, the Bruins could have reinforcements on the way.
David Pastrnak, the team's leading goal scorer, has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, but was back alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand during Wednesday's practice.
"He is traveling with the team," said Julien. "He was cleared for full practice today. Unless there's a setback tomorrow, I would anticipate him to hopefully play. There could be a setback; this is his first full day of practice here. We'll see."
Kevan Miller was also cleared to participate in the session and took regular reps with the other defensemen during drills.
"Kevan just got cleared, so we're going to have some decisions to make before tomorrow's game," said Julien.
Miller acknowledged it was a good time to be cleared for a return, with Chara out of the lineup.
"Hand feels great," said Miller, who was alongside Joe Morrow for a good chunk of Wednesday's practice. "Put in a good amount of work to get back. Looking forward to getting back into the lineup whenever that is. I'm excited to play."
