BOSTON – The Bruins seemed to breathe a little easier following their scrimmage at TD Garden on Thursday night as they managed to get out of their intra-squad practice without suffering any injuries. There was a scare, of course, as it looked like Bruins winger Brad Marchand jammed his left hand during the first half of the scrimmage after colliding with Connor Clifton, and left the B’s bench for some time afterward.
But Marchand returned to assist on a goal in the 5-3 final score and was no worse for the wear following the game, according to Bruce Cassidy.
“Injury risk was our biggest concern. It will be [also on] Saturday when we practice at our normal time, and Sunday obviously. You keep your fingers crossed, but [Marchand is] fine,” said Cassidy. “He just bumped into [Connor] Clifton in front of the net and jammed his – I don’t know what he jammed – his hand or something. So kept playing, and he was fine. There was no issue there.”
David Pastrnak went one step further and said that Marchand “might have been having some fun” with the 16,000 plus Bruins fans in attendance for the Garden scrimmage, but it appears there was an initial bit of discomfort with the left winger that led to some tense moments.
In the game itself, David Backes and David Pastrnak both scored a pair of goals, and it appears that everybody else was healthy and in one piece as well. That was the most important aspect of the Thursday scrimmage meant to simulate a game day with a morning skate and an evening intra-squad scrimmage amidst their 11-day break between conference final and Stanley Cup Final.
Cassidy added in his postgame comments that David Krejci didn’t play in the scrimmage at all, and was sent home after he showed up to TD Garden with a fever on Thursday ahead of the night practice.
Boston Bruins
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