Bruins' Paille could return against Canadiens

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins might add some speed and experience to their lineup in time for the start of their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Montreal Canadiens.

The series is scheduled to start later this week.

Forward Daniel Paille, who hasn't played since sustaining a concussion on April 12, took contact during practice at TD Garden on Tuesday.

"Yeah, you know what, it feels good to be out there with the guys for a full practice," Paille said. "I've skated for over a week now on my own, or even a couple optional skates, but it definitely feels good to get a full-contact practice going and I feel, I guess, fresh. But I've definitely been watching the games with the team and the guys that haven't played, and I realize how good we've been. So it's definitely positive, especially going into the second round."

Left wing Brad Marchand missed practice for an undisclosed reason and forward Chris Kelly (back) remained out. Defensemen Adam McQuaid (quad) and Corey Potter (upper body) were also missing, but defenseman Dennis Seidenberg's rehabilitation from an ACL/MCL injury continued with some non-contact drills with his teammates.

With Paille now available, the Bruins might make their first change of their forward lines of the playoffs against the Canadiens. Forward Jordan Caron filled in for Paille on the line with center Gregory Campbell and right wing Shawn Thornton during the Bruins' five-game defeat of the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

Paille had nine goals and nine assists in 72 games this season. He's also a key penalty-killer. But his season was sidetracked three times by head injuries, including the latest one caused by a hit from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe. Paille said the frequency of his injuries slowed his return to the lineup.

"Because this is my third injury this year, there was a lot more precautions to kind of rule out. I believe I could've played midway through the series [against Detroit]. ... I didn't feel like I had too long of any symptoms or injuries," Paille said. "But there were a lot of precautions and I had to continue with that process. And I think I hear [Bruins coach] Claude [Julien] say I feel great the first day. And I thought I did. There's no question about that. I guess we just didn't want to rush this one."

Julien said he was waiting until the doctors cleared Paille to slide him into lineup consideration.