WILMINGTON, Mass. -- The news about Dennis Seidenberg's season-ending injury has had several days to sink in for the Boston Bruins.
Now they can get back to work with a little positive news because Zdeno Chara is expected back in the lineup Tuesday night at TD Garden against the New York Islanders. The Bruins defenseman missed a loss against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday because of an undisclosed injury. That game was also the first the Bruins played without Seidenberg, who sustained an ACL/MCL injury Friday.
Chara said he's feeling good, even if he's not in perfect condition.
"I mean if you look at it, there's not always the case that you're going to be 100 percent," Chara said after the team's morning skate at Ristuccia Arena. "I mean a lot of players go through it ... and that's just the way it is. You're going to have to battle through some aches and pains. But I think it's pretty common in this sport, or really any sport."
Here is the Bruins' projected lineup:
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith
Matt Fraser – Ryan Spooner – Nick Johnson
Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Jordan Caron
Matt Bartkowski – Kevan Miller
Scratched: Shawn Thornton (suspension)
Injured: Dougie Hamilton (lower body), Carl Soderberg (concussion), Loui Eriksson (concussion), Dennis Seidenberg (knee), Chris Kelly (leg)