Slegr (back) will sit vs. Canadiens

WILMINGTON -- Another Bruin was added to the list of walking wounded yesterday. Defenseman Jiri Slegr joined centers Joe Thornton and Alexei Zhamnov on the shelf because of a back ailment. Coach Mike Sullivan said Slegr had an MRI Sunday that yielded no structural problems, but Slegr wasn't on the trip to Montreal and won't suit up tonight against the Canadiens. Neither will Thornton, who has a back strain, or Zhamnov, who has a shoulder strain and has yet to play a regular-season game.

Of the three, Thornton seems the closest to resuming on-ice workouts.

''He seems better," said Sullivan. ''He's going to start to skate [today] with [conditioning coach] John Whitesides. Then we'll see how he is. We're optimistic that at least he's made improvements."

Thornton pulled up lame Oct. 10 in a game at Tampa Bay with five minutes remaining. Tonight marks the third straight game he'll be absent.

Zhamnov suffered the shoulder strain during the final exhibition game Oct. 1 against the New York Rangers. He has been unable to skate since. Sullivan said he's expecting that to change in the near future.

''Alex is status quo," said the coach. ''I wish we had better news but we expect him to [start] skating this week. We're hopeful the improvement process will go quicker once he gets on the ice."

After the Oct. 1 game, the team had the day off, but during practice Oct. 3, two days before opening night, it was clear something was wrong.

''I didn't see how he did it," said Sullivan. ''He came and practiced and that's when he left complaining of it. He's a playmaker, and it's never an easy injury for those types of players. We're hopeful he's making progress. I think he's making progress, it's just not as fast as we'd like it."

No worse for wear

Defenseman Nick Boynton, who jumped right into the lineup Saturday after agreeing to terms on a one-year deal Thursday, said he came out of the game fine. ''I was surprised," said Boynton, who skated in his first full practice yesterday. ''There wasn't a whole lot of [contact]. There was more skating than anything and I was doing enough of that on my own, so it felt pretty good. I feel real good right now, so that's encouraging." From a timing perspective, Boynton is expecting a significant improvement tonight. ''Ottawa's a good team and I struggled a little bit, but hopefully it just gets better and better," he said. ''I really don't feel too far off, even confidence-wise." . . . When players use a distinct kicking motion on a puck and it goes into the net, it is not a goal. When a player uses a distinct kicking motion on an opponent, it results in a suspension. The league announced yesterday that Ottawa's Martin Havlat has been banished five games for kicking Bruins defenseman Hal Gill during Saturday night's contest. The incident, which happened at 3:53 of the second period, didn't result in a penalty, but NHL dean of discipline Colin Campbell felt it warranted a suspension, with Campbell noting that Havlat was given supplementary discipline three times in a two-month period during 2003-04, including a two-game suspension for kicking Eric Cairns, then with the Islanders. Gill said Havlat made contact with him -- he declined to say where -- and it caused a bruise. He said he was shocked at first. ''I thought, 'He didn't just try to kick me?' " said Gill. Then he saw the replay, which removed all doubt.

Northeast corridor

The Bruins head into tonight winless in three tries against Northeast Division opponents and have scored just one goal in each contest. After facing the Habs, Boston plays its first game at home since opening night against another division foe -- Buffalo, which beat the Bruins Oct. 7. ''It's not that we haven't played well against our division," said Sullivan. ''Our first game against Montreal, I thought we had a pretty decent effort. It would be nice to get a different result. I'm confident in this group we have, that they'll respond. I think our players are well aware of the importance of establishing where you're at within your division and the importance of conference as to how it relates to the big picture. Obviously, it'd be nice to get in the win column." . . . Montreal forward Richard Zednik skated on his own yesterday for the first time since opening night, when he suffered a groin injury. He actually got hurt at the morning skate in Boston but tried to play that night. He suited up for 5:02 of the first period but has been sidelined since. He's expected to be out of the lineup for another week.