Bruins shrug off injuries

Through the first three games of this series, the Bruins have three wins, zero losses and two major casualties.

Center David Krejci sustained a dislocated right wrist in Wednesday night's win and will miss the rest of the postseason. He joins winger Marco Sturm, who also won't be back after wrecking his right knee in the series opener.

"It's tough news," Marc Savard said. "We just have to keep finding ways and stay focused."

The Bruins are like every other team that makes its living playing a collision sport on skates. They have had plenty of experience dealing with top players rotating in and out of the lineup. Savard, for instance, was out for 24 games with a concussion before returning for the Flyers series. And, as stated above, they've gone 3-0 against the Flyers despite losing top goal-scorer Sturm on his first shift of the series.

"Nothing rattles us," he said.

Krejci, who tied for the team lead in scoring during the regular season, was drilled by Mike Richards at Boston's blue line 6 minutes into Wednesday's Game 3. The fourth-year veteran from the Czech Republic was able to continue the play that eventually led to the winning goal.

A valuable part of the Bruins' special teams, Krejci had four goals and four assists in nine playoff games this year. He had surgery immediately after the game at Baltimore's Union Memorial Hospital and is expected back for next year's preseason.

"We're not rattled," coach Claude Julien oddly echoed. "We've seen [injuries] before. We've dealt with them before. It's just a matter of staying the course."

Fourth-line center Vladimir Sobotka, who helped fill the void on Wednesday, is the leading candidate to move up. If Julien chooses to use a center to fill the open roster spot, Trent Whitfield and Brad Marchand could be activated. Whitfield played in 14 postseason games while with Washington, though none since 2003. Marchand, a rookie who appeared in 20 regular-season games, has never played in the playoffs.

"I'm going to [make] that decision today," Julien said. "We still have a whole day to sort things out. It's a matter of picking and choosing who we want."

Defenseman Adam McQuaid sustained a lower-body injury on Wednesday. His status tonight for Game 4 is "very doubtful," Julien said. Mark Stuart, who hasn't played since early April because of an infection to a surgically repaired pinkie, could be a possibility if he receives medical clearance.

"As a coach," Julien said, "you just look at what you got and make the best with what you got."

The ironic thing about David Krejci's injury is that if Wednesday night hadn't been a playoff game and instead just a nondescript contest played in say, December, Milan Lucic's reaction - and the game's subsequent outcome - might have been different.

Lucic had a clear view of Mike Richards flattening Krejci, his linemate.

"It was a weird play. There are two scenarios with what you can do. You can obviously go and fight the guy [or you can continue the play]," explained Lucic, who had four fighting majors during the regular season. "I noticed there was an opportunity where we had a two-on-one. Looking back, it was probably the better decision going and getting that goal. I just went with my instinct."

Lucic continued the play, found Flyer killer Miroslav Satan and the result is a 3-0 series lead.

"It is different because it is playoff hockey," Lucic said. "You don't want to put your team down with a 5-minute penalty or an instigator that could get yourself out of the game for 17 minutes." *