NHL teams
Joe McDonald, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Bruins in big trouble without Big Z

NHL, Boston Bruins

BOSTON -- Fill in the blank: Without Zdeno Chara the Boston Bruins are ___.

There are a number of words that can be used to finish that statement, none of which bode well for the Bruins. The team's captain suffered a knee injury early in the first period of Thursday's 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders at TD Garden and did not return.

A team source confirmed that Chara injured his left knee and will likely be out four to six weeks with ligament damage, with surgery possible. 

Chara, at age 37, is still one of the elite defenders in the NHL. He routinely logs 25-plus minutes of ice time for the Bruins, and their power play has been much more effective ever since he moved to the front of the net last season.

He has proven throughout his career that he can play through injuries and pain, so the fact he did not return to Thursday's game should be alarming for the Bruins. Even during the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, he played the second round with two broken fingers on his left hand.

Since coming to Boston in 2006, Chara has never played fewer than 77 games in a season. In that time, the team is 341-204-66 with Chara in the lineup and 8-7-5 without him in the lineup, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Chara's last shift Thursday came with 8:13 remaining in the first period. Earlier in the shift, he put a big hit on the Islanders' John Tavares between the circles in front of Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg. Chara did not appear to be injured and finished the shift before going to the room.

"When you lose your captain and one of your better defensemen, there's no doubt it's going to have an effect on your team," Julien said. "Again, we showed in the third that we're able to handle it, so that's my perspective on it. You're going to lose guys during the season. Those things happen. How you react to it and how you respond is what's important."

The Bruins didn't respond well in the second period. Boston showed some life in the third with a late surge, but the Islanders held on for the win.

"Yeah, it's tough," Dougie Hamilton said. "Nobody really knew what happened, and obviously, we found out during the intermission and it took us a while to get going. We were a little bit sluggish in the second period; obviously, it's tough to play without Z."

Last season, the Bruins were forced to play with five defensemen due to injury five times. It's happened twice already this season.

"Obviously, he's our best defenseman, the leader of our team, so we have to step up even more. I thought we did OK. I didn't think our second period was good at all. The third period we stepped it up," Hamilton said. "We've had a lot of experience in the past losing defensemen early in the game, and we all knew we had to play a lot and just keep your legs going."

A season ago, the Bruins lost top defenseman Dennis Seidenberg on Dec. 27 when he tore both the ACL and MCL in his right knee. He had season-ending surgery on Jan. 7. When Chara exited the ice Thursday and did not return, it had a serious effect.

"It's very tough. He's our leader, and it's always tough when a guy like that goes down," Seidenberg said. "We have to embrace the opportunity and play better and make up for that if possible."

Losing Seidenberg was tough on the Bruins last season, but if Chara is out for the duration, it will debilitate the team.

"I don't even want to think that far, because we don't know what it is and, hopefully, it's not too long," Seidenberg said. "He's the heart and soul of this team, and whatever it is, hopefully he's back soon."

Too many times this season the Bruins have suffered mental and physical breakdowns in the defensive end. It's been uncharacteristic of a team that's built on defense. The Bruins have shown glimpses of figuring it out, but if Chara is out for a longer period of time, it will be that much more difficult.

"This is probably the worst," Hamilton said of the team's defensive breakdowns since he's been in Boston. "It's frustrating. There's no lack of trying. Everyone's trying. Everyone's frustrated that the goals are going in and we all don't want them to go in. It's not like we're cheating, and it's not [that] we're not trying to play good defense. We're trying, but it's frustrating that it's happening."

Chara's injury comes on the night former Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk returned to Boston for the first time since he was traded to the Islanders on Oct. 4. He received many ovations, including a standing ovation during a television timeout when the Bruins honored him with a video board tribute. He smiled and waved to the fans.

With Chara lost for the game, Boychuk and the Islanders took advantage of the situation.

"They lose Z, that's huge for us because he's such a good player," Boychuk said. "I just hope he's OK because he's their leader and their top defenseman. His presence on the ice is felt. When they didn't have him, we just kept putting the pucks in and tried to grind them down."

Former Bruins goaltender Chad Johnson, who finished with 30 saves in the win for the Islanders, can't imagine Boston's lineup without Chara's presence.

"He's their best defenseman, obviously, and he logs a lot of minutes," Johnson said. "When they lose a guy like that, other guys have to step up. That team's so deep, if they lose one guy, you'd like to say even if it is Z, they can sort of rebound and guys can step in for them. It's a big loss for them."

When Boychuk was traded, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said at the time he felt it was the right move due to the team's salary-cap constraints and that it was the first of a few moves in order to set the team up better for the future.

You can't fault Chiarelli for making the deal, but with Boston's depth on defense taking a massive hit already this season, it's easy to second-guess the trade.

Rewind to last season.

When Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid were lost for the season due to injuries, the Bruins relied on Boychuk to step up his game, and he delivered. Without Boychuk to lean on this season, Hamilton will need to be that guy if Chara is sidelined for a while. This could be Hamilton's coronation.

He logged 23:55 of ice time on Thursday and was on the ice a lot in the waning minutes as the Bruins attempted to tie the game. From the start of training camp, many have said this should be a breakout season for the 21-year-old defenseman. He has the ability and the poise. Now, he might have to seize the role of top defenseman if Chara is lost for any amount of time.

Losing Chara is like the New England Patriots losing Tom Brady, or the Red Sox losing Dustin Pedroia. If Chara is out for a long period of time, the Bruins are in big, big trouble.

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