Shorthanded B's Fall in Chicago

CHICAGO - The Bruins six-game win streak - one that saw them overcome the loss of a number of key players to injury and another to a suspension - finally came to an end on Sunday in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Prior to the matinee matchup, the Bruins announced that the team's leading scorer, Brad Marchand, would miss the game with an upper-body injury.
"Upper body injury from the run in with [Anthony] Duclair last night," said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy after the game. "We didn't now how serious it would be. We just found out before the game he wouldn't be able to go. He's day-to-day and we'll see how he is for Tuesday."

Without Marchand, whose 1.30 points per game rank 4th in the NHL, Cassidy was forced to ice only 11 forwards.
"What were they?" Cassidy quipped when asked how he formed the line combinations. "You have 11 forwards, so probably have a lot of different ones. We moved Rick Nash over to the left for part of the game. He was playing with Riley [Nash] and Pasta [David Pastrnak] for a bit. Krejci was with [Brian] Gionta and [Jake] DeBrusk. We just did it out of necessity."
In the past, Cassidy has juggled the lines during the game to create a spark. On Sunday, the bevy of different line combinations was necessary from the opening faceoff
'There was really no impetus for why a certain guy went where," said Cassidy. "We had a few extra minutes for a forward and that's the way they ended up...Trying to balance the minutes and use the guys that were going."
After playing less than 24 hours prior, The Bruins were tasked with keeping the shorthanded forward group as fresh as possible.
"Playing with 11 forwards, a little challenge for the coach to keep the guys fresh," said David Krejci. "Obviously when you have 11 forwards you're missing one guy on the line, so you have to keep rotating."
To further complicate matters, the Bruins found themselves shorthanded three times within the first 10 minutes of the game.
"Early on it was tough," said Cassidy. "It was basically a penalty-kill practice for the first half of the period. Now you are trying to get guys back in the game and eventually we found our way."
After ceding a power play goal at the 7:26 mark of the first period, the B's would struggle to find offense until midway through the third. At 10:57, Zdeno Chara joined the rush and took a crisp pass from David Krejci in the slot and burying it on the glove side of Chicago goaltender, Anton Forsberg.

"I saw him all the way," said Krejci. "Jake [DeBrusk] made a nice play. Gio [Brian Gionta] was busting towards the middle, opened up the lane and I put it on his tape, he made a nice shot. It was a big goal for us.
With under five minutes remaining, it appeared as though the Bruins might to overtime. However, at 16:26 of the third, Chara caught a Chicago player in the face with his stick. The contact drew blood, which resulted in an automatic four-minute, double-minor infraction.
"I was trying to play the puck," said Chara. "It's a bounce that usually ends up coming to the ice, but kind of hit the edge of the boards. It's a battle and I was just trying to get to that puck before their player did. Just very unfortunate. Obviously, something like that, it just happens."
Patrick Kane scored for the Blackhawks on the ensuing power play, which ultimately proved to be the difference.
"We were in it," said Krejci. "We were in it till the end. Tough penalty at the end. Guys is bleeding, so it's automatic four minutes. Same thing happened on the other side yesterday.
"Other than that, I think it was decent game. Not as many chances, not as many trade off as yesterday. Like I said, we were in it till the end."

Backes Back

After missing the previous three games for a suspension, David Backes will make his return to the Bruins lineup when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. With the Bruins shorthanded up front, his return will provide a welcome boost for the B's.
"Backes is off suspension so he'll come back in," said Cassidy. "Backes will give us 12 and I don't believe we sustained any other injuries tonight."
In 47 games this season, Backes has 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points.