The Bruins have completed their third day of on-ice sessions at TD Garden. The most significant wrinkle took place in the second session during power-play drills.
Zdeno Chara, usually a staple at the point in one-up situations, was stationed in front of the net. Torey Krug and David Krejci manned the blue line. Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla were the other forwards down low.
“We’re tinkering with that,” Claude Julien said. “We’re going to have a look at that. We have some guys that we feel can shoot the puck from the back-end. Z is probably one of our best guys at screening with his big body. We’ve known that for a long time. It was probably what we feel like we didn’t have for the back-end. It’s something we’re experimenting with.”
Chara was on the ice for the tying goal in Game 7 against Toronto as the net-front presence during six-on-five play. There are no goalies who can peer over Chara. There are few defensemen strong enough to remove Chara from in front of the net.
Krug, Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Dougie Hamilton, Johnny Boychuk, and Dennis Seidenberg are among the point options.
* Matt Bartkowski was active throughout the session. Bartkowski leveled Craig Cunningham when he stepped up to support the puck. Bartkowski was strong and quick today.
* Former Dallas teammates Reilly Smith and Mark Fraser are battling each other for a third-line spot. Julien describes Fraser as a high-end offensive player. Julien said Smith is a grittier forward.
* The Bruins will practice on Sunday at the Garden starting at 10 a.m. Attendance is free and open to the public.
Today’s Group A lineup:
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson
Jordan Caron-Chris Kelly-Reilly Smith
Justin Florek-Alexander Khokhlachev-Jared Knight
Matt Lindblad-Carter Camper-Seth Griffith
Jack Downing-Scott Campbell-Bobby Robins
Dennis Seidenberg-Dougie Hamilton
David Warsofsky-Johnny Boychuk
Joe Morrow-Chris Casto
Mike Moore-Steven Spinell
Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg
Group B lineup:
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla
Matt Fraser-Carl Soderberg-Craig Cunningham
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Anthony Camara-Ryan Spooner-Nick Johnson
Rob Flick-Alex Fallstrom-Tyler Randell
Zdeno Chara-Zach Trotman
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Matt Bartkowski-Kevan Miller
Tommy Cross-Ben Youds
Chad Johnson
Adam Morrison
Malcolm Subban
