Carlo Skates, Nosek Sidelined as B's Return to Practice

BOSTON - The Bruins received some mix news on the injury front on Saturday morning as they returned to the ice for practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
While the concern was real after Brandon Carlo exited Thursday's win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden with a lower-body injury following a shot block in the second period, the blue liner was back on the ice as a full participant for Saturday's skate.
"We expect him to be available [for Sunday night's game against the San Jose Sharks]. We'll see how he feels after today's skate," said coach Jim Montgomery.

There was an unfortunate development when it comes to injuries, however, as the team announced that Tomas Nosek will miss at least the next four weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his left foot. The centerman also blocked a shot during Boston's 3-1 win at MSG on Thursday night.
Nosek had already been battling through an undisclosed injury that forced him to miss the two games leading into the Winter Classic, as well as the front end of the B's back-to-back in New York this week. The ailment - which, per Montgomery, is believed to be almost fully healed - had also hampered his ability to take faceoffs up on his return, leading to Boston recalling center Joona Koppanen from Providence.
Koppanen, who made his NHL debut on Jan. 12 against Seattle and suited up again on Wednesday night against the Islanders, centered Nick Foligno and A.J. Greer during Saturday's practice.
"I thought his first game was better than his second," said Montgomery. "I thought with his second there's areas where - or things that happened in the game where he's going to learn and get better from.
"I mean, it's the NHL. You're going to sometimes be in situations where you're going to say, 'Next time, I'm going to be more aggressive or next time I'm going to do this. But he didn't hurt us at all. He helped us win that game. And then I think today in practice is the best I've seen him look."
Montgomery added that while the club will miss Nosek during this stretch, it's a positive for Koppanen to get some consistent and extended reps at the NHL level. The 24-year-old has spent parts of the last six seasons in Providence after being selected by the Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft.
"It's good for him. It's good for us to know, do we have a guy who could do this daily, add to our playoff depth?" said Montgomery. "Obviously, we're looking at that for this year. Then, we're looking down the road for next year."
Boston's bench boss said that the team will need to call up another forward from Providence before the team leaves for its week-long road trip on Monday afternoon.
"I think we're going to call up someone after our game [Sunday] or Monday morning, but I don't know which one," said Montgomery. "We're going to have to, we can't just go with 12 forwards."

Wait There's More

Seeing the Sharks: While they don't face off against Western Conference foes very often, the Bruins did just visit the Sharks two weeks ago, giving Montgomery and his staff a good idea of what to expect on Sunday night.
"It's really beneficial to see the same team quickly because it's still fresh in our minds what San Jose's good at," said Montgomery. "Their speed and their transition game and how well they attack our net gave us a little bit of problems and how they manage pucks against our D-zone. They made us work in our own end."
Waiting His Turn: With Carlo seemingly escaping any serious damage from the shot block in New York, the need for Jakub Zboril to suit up on Sunday night lessened. The blue liner has played just two games since Nov. 13 - and one since Nov. 23, when he suited up as a seventh defensemen in the Bruins' win in San Jose.
"I think it is really hard and we are aware of it, and we share that with him," said Montgomery. "For him, there has been a noticeable change in his attitude…it is hard for maybe the first month or three weeks to get up for practice, to have a smile and an infectious attitude around your teammates because that's part of the equation when you're not playing, you know? Ever since then - I'd say a week before Christmas, he's had a great attitude…comes to the rink with a smile on his face and been a great teammate for everybody.
"With our group we have a lot of people who care about how others are doing and that's why the culture's great…if someone's down, the players and coaches are aware of it, and we try to support them and find out why and see if there's anything that we can do to help."

Saturday's Practice Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Craig Smith
Pavel Zacha - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - Charlie Coyle - Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno - Joona Koppanen - A.J. Greer
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Connor Clifton
Jakub Zboril
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman