Coach Claude Julien said Savard wasn’t showing any concussion-like symptoms. To be cautious, considering Savard’s history, the center will have his two-game road trip cut short. Savard will fly back to Boston today and be re-evaluated.
“Right now, he’s shook up,’’ Julien said. “He seemed fine. We’re just being cautious. I think it’s the right thing to do.’’
Last Saturday, Pittsburgh defenseman Deryk Engelland sent Savard into the boards at TD Garden, a hit that also dropped the center to the ice. After that hit, Savard didn’t miss any time. He acknowledged feeling dazed after the game, but he practiced the next day without any symptoms.
Yesterday, Savard was limited to 7:03 of ice time. He was not available for comment after the win.
“Probably the way he got hit was what rattled him,’’ said Julien. “So our trainers felt it was better to make sure to be cautious about that and get our doctors to evaluate him.’’
Yesterday was Savard’s 25th game since returning Dec. 2. Savard, who had been centering Michael Ryder and Nathan Hor ton, entered yesterday with four assists in his last five games.
Savard’s injury was the only blemish to a picture-perfect road win. Brad Marchand scored two goals and had two assists for his first 4-point explosion. Milan Lucic potted a pair to set a career high (19 goals). Gregory Campbell jolted his teammates awake with a first-period fight. The Bruins chased Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson after 40 minutes. Tim Thomas stopped 32 of 34 shots.
“We had a great game,’’ said Marchand, who capped the victory with an empty-net goal. “It really started with Soup. He started it off with a huge fight for us.
“We had a really good game after that. We played 60 minutes of great effort. Everyone was going.’’
Again, the line that sparkled was the No. 2 threesome of Marchand, Bergeron, and Mark Recchi. For most of the season, Marchand had done his blue-collar work on the fourth line with Campbell and Shawn Thornton. But once the coaching staff moved Marchand up, he has helped turn his line into the club’s most consistent two-way trio.
