BOSTON – It obviously didn’t hold the storybook ending that anybody hoped for afterward, but there was still plenty of appreciation for Zdeno Chara’s toughness after Game 5 was in the books.
The Bruins ended up on the losing end of a 2-1 final score with a controversial non-call on a Noel Acciari trip that everybody was talking about, but Chara also brought the house down when he was in the starting lineup against the St. Louis Blues. The broken jaw didn’t end up sidelining the 42-year-old Chara for even a game, and he totaled over 16 minutes of ice time while killing penalties, throwing hits and generally playing a pretty good percentage of his usual game.
It was pretty clearly inspiration to his teammates out on the ice.
“It was great. It shows his character,” said Tuukka Rask. “It takes a lot for him not to play. Yeah, he’s got some big balls.”
Chara ended up being on ice for the Blues first goal when both Chara and Charlie McAvoy chased behind the net leaving Ryan O’Reilly wide open in the slot, but that was the only blip on the radar screen for the ultimate tough guy. In the good news department, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBCSportsBoston.com that Chara doesn’t have his jaw wired shut and that he was actually doing pretty well physically all things considered.
Bruce Cassidy said that his captain is taking some risks by playing with the significant injury, but there was never really much doubt that the 6-foot-9 captain would be in there.
“He’s a great example of [hockey toughness]. He even came out and said it, he’s not the only guy. [St. Louis] has got guys, we’ve got guys, other teams I’m sure, Carolina, San Jose had guys that played hurt.
Boston Bruins
"That’s what you do this time of year,” said Cassidy. “His injury is a little more serious than some. He was medically cleared with some warnings and he made the decision to play.
“[It’s] inspirational for us, good player for us, we knew he wouldn’t be 100% so we were happy to have him out there. It just speaks a lot to his character and his will to play.”
While the morale boost of Chara’s return didn’t result in a needed win for the Bruins in Game 5, it’s still going to go down in the annals of Bruins history as one of the gutsiest performances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s also just another chapter in the Hall of Fame career for a B’s D-man that’s made a career out of toughness, perseverance and the competitiveness that had him out there on Thursday night.
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