By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com
TAMPAFor the second straight morning skate Milan Lucic was absent after taking a shot on his right footankle during practice at TD Garden last Monday morning, but Bruins coach Claude Julien said his big power forward would be just fine for the game.Lucic had 20:49 of ice time in Game 2 against the Lightning and finished with five shots on net in that game, so it appeared physically that things were okay with the 22-year-old left wing.Mark Recchi, Patrice Bergeron and the rest of the Bruins were out for morning skate on the St. Pete Times Forum ice in preparation for their first road game in the Eastern Conference Finals.The Bs coach said there are no excuses at this point in the season, and everybody that can play will be playing. Lucic has five points (2 goals, 3 assists) and is a plus-7 after 13 playoff games this season. He has certainly been uncharacteristically quiet after leading the Bs with 30 goals during the regular season.Lucic has no issues," Julien said. "He's going to be in tonight. During the playoffs certain things you do, and give guys time off for whatever reason. He'll be there. There won't be any excuses to his game at all. You've seen Recchi get some time off, but Recchi this morning wanted to go on. So there are very minor issues when it comes to that.
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