Spooner, Krejci return to Bruins practice, Seidenberg, Connolly missing

WILMINGTON, Mass. – The Bruins got a couple of bodies back on Thursday with Ryan Spooner and David Krejci both returning to practice prior to leaving for their two-game Western Conference trip through St. Louis and Chicago.

Claude Julien said following practice that Dennis Seidenberg and Brett Connolly, who didn't practice, won’t be traveling with the team due to their injuries and will miss the next two games against the Blues and Blackhawks. Austin Czarnik was returned to the Providence Bruins following practice and Seth Griffith will join the team with injuries beginning to gnaw away at their forward depth.

Otherwise it was a full hour-long practice for the Black and Gold, working on battle drills and special teams and whatever else needs to be straightened out prior to five must-win games to end their regular season. Here are the projected line combos and D-pairings based on Thursday practice:

Beleskey-Krejci-Griffith/Pastrnak

Marchand-Bergeron-Eriksson

Vatrano-Spooner-Czarnik/Stempniak

Ferraro-Acciari-Hayes/Randell