Savard cleared for light contact

According to James Murphy at NESN, injured Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard has been cleared to practice with light contact.

“I’ll start off with morning skate, and stay on and do some more stuff,” Savard told the media after an informal skate with several teammates on Thursday. “I’ll start there and gradually build up from it. It’s exciting. It’s another step forward and I’m excited by that. When you’re out there on your own, it’s tough. When you’re around the guys, it’s a lot of fun. Especially with the way they’re playing. Hopefully they can win [Friday] night, too.”

The Bruins faithful are eager to see Savard return to the lineup, but can rest a little bit easier knowing that the team doesn’t feel the need to rush his return with the Bruins leading their series with Buffalo 3-1. That said, the Bruins will need to have that extra bit of offensive touch if they plan on advancing deeper into the playoffs. While the Bruins defense and goaltending have carried the day for them thus far, it can’t hurt to get your top scoring talent back in the lineup.

For those of you who might casually be wondering, there’s a possibility that Pittsburgh and Boston could meet in the second round. In case you were asleep for a few months, it was Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke that knocked out Marc Savard with a highly-questionable “shoulder” to the head. You can imagine how much that series might mean with Marc Savard back in the lineup and the Bruins team re-energized both from potential first round success and Savard’s potential return.