Naturally, being a hockey player, Kelly returned to the ice minutes later. During the three-on-three cross-ice battle that followed, Kelly hit the ice once more, driven to the sheet by a thundering Shawn Thornton check.
After practice, his teammates tried to console the third-line center. Kelly sat in the corner, his gray practice jersey dotted with blood, no doubt dreading the dentistry that he will require.
“At least when I wipe out, I have on a full cage,’’ said goalie Tim Thomas.
There weren’t many smiles on the Bruins’ faces following their practice. After their latest loss, a 4-2 setback to Winnipeg on Friday, they have posted a 4-6-0 record in their last 10 games.
They haven’t won two straight in over a month. They are down two right wings in Nathan Horton (concussion) and Rich Peverley (knee sprain).
They are grinding their gears, scraping metal on metal, with no indications that a WD-40 cure-all is in their near future. For too long, they’ve been playing with as much fizz as a week-old can of ginger ale.
“We need a better package from our hockey team,’’ coach Claude Julien said. “Whether we talk about D-gap or putting the puck in deep or putting it in the right area where we can get it back, there’s so much of that.
“When it’s all over the place, it’s a matter of righting the ship and getting our focus on doing the little things right again. It’s really not just one area. It’s many, many areas.’’
Amid the peaks and valleys that have troubled the Bruins for almost two months, they’ve avoided slipping into a significant hole.
Since the beginning of November, they have dropped two straight games on only two occasions. Their longest losing streak is three, which took place in October when they were at their worst.
