Chara suffered the injury during a power play in the second period of Saturday night’s 5-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Chara skated off the ice, then walked to the dressing room without assistance.
After the game, Chara was walking without noticeable discomfort. He was examined by team doctors yesterday in Boston.
Given the expected duration of Chara’s absence, the captain could have suffered a knee sprain, which usually requires two weeks of recovery.
Since 2006-07, Chara’s first season in Boston, the Bruins have been built around the No. 1 defenseman and goalie Tim Thomas. Thomas helped Chara win the Norris Trophy in 2009. In turn, Chara’s shutdown presence was a significant factor in Thomas’s pair of Vezina Trophies. And last season, Thomas and Chara led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup.
If Thomas were to suffer an injury, the Bruins could turn to Tuukka Rask and expect adequate, if not excellent, goaltending. The Bruins do not have a reasonable stand-in for Chara, who is coach Claude Julien’s first man over the boards for all situations: five-on-five, power play, penalty kill.
Through 28 games, Chara has six goals and 13 assists while averaging 24:48 of ice time. He leads the Bruins with four power-play goals. Chara and partner Johnny Boychuk have been responsible for matching up against opposing top forwards, most recently Rick Nash and Jeff Carter on Saturday.
Starting tomorrow against Los Angeles, the Bruins will need Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg, and Andrew Ference to assume greater shutdown responsibilities. Anze Kopitar, the Kings’ No. 1 center, leads the team with 10 goals and 18 assists in 29 games.
On Saturday, Seidenberg led all players with 26:20 of ice time. Boychuk was second on the team with 22:40, while Ference submitted a 22:03 workload.
Steven Kampfer, who hasn’t played since Nov. 17 against Columbus, will dress as the sixth defenseman tomorrow. He has one assist in five games this season while averaging 11:48 of ice time. Chara’s absence will also require one of the team’s four right-shot defensemen to switch to the left side.
