It's a sizable absence

WILMINGTON -- Last Thursday, the Bruins lost a game.

They lost their dignity, getting clobbered by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 10-2.

And they lost their captain.

Sometime during the game, Zdeno Chara collided with a Toronto player, suffering a lower-body injury. Coach Dave Lewis termed it a core-strength injury, indicating that it most likely affects his groin or abdominal area. Chara said he has never suffered this kind of injury before.

Chara missed Saturday's 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers and will miss his second straight game tonight when the Bruins face off against the Ottawa Senators. Chara, who missed practice yesterday at Ristuccia Arena while receiving treatment, didn't make the trip to Canada's capital.

"It's feeling better," said Chara. "Every day there is progress. It's getting better and better."

Chara (7-17--24 in 38 games , with a 28:43 average ice time per match) is questionable for Thursday's game against the Islanders. Chara said he is aiming to return by the end of this week. The Bruins play the Rangers Saturday afternoon.

Chara may not be the only defenseman missing tonight. Yesterday, Brad Stuart was with his wife, Melissa, in California, where she was scheduled to give birth to the couple's first child. The plan was for Stuart to travel commercially from the Bay Area to Ottawa for tonight's game, but Lewis wasn't positive he would be available.

Because of Stuart's uncertainty, the Bruins promoted Jonathan Sigalet from Providence, the 20-year-old's first NHL callup. Sigalet has eight goals and eight assists in 35 games for Providence.

The defensive shuffle comes at an inopportune time. While the Senators' top two centers, Jason Spezza and Mike Fisher, are both sidelined with knee injuries, top-line right wing Dany Heatley has scored 7 points in his last three games, including a hat trick against Buffalo last Wednesday.

In the last meeting with the Senators Dec. 19, Lewis employed a hard match against Heatley, sending out Chara any time the Ottawa wing hit the ice. Since their last game, a 7-2 Boston win, the Senators acquired center Mike Comrie from Phoenix. Lewis said Comrie is a dangerous offensive-minded player who fits in well with Ottawa's highly skilled forwards.

"[Chara's absence] puts a different responsibility on other guys," said Lewis. "You hope they can handle the responsibility in a positive way. Most guys want more responsibility. This is an opportunity for them to step up and assume that extra ice time. We're going to have to divvy out a lot more minutes that [Chara] gobbles up."

During his first call-up in late October and early November, Matt Lashoff experienced how frenetic and fast-paced the NHL is compared to the AHL.

During his seven-game stint with the Bruins, when he was paired mostly with Chara, Lashoff watched, learned, and banked away the things he needed to learn to become a consistent NHL player.

Upon returning to the Bruins' lineup Saturday after another stint in Providence, Lashoff recorded an assist on one of Marc Savard's two goals. And after a solid 13:08 of play against the Flyers, he earned several more days in a Boston uniform.

Lashoff will play tonight against the Senators and will most likely be paired with Milan Jurcina. Lashoff should also see power-play time -- he skated mostly at the point on the man-advantage in Providence.

"It's [becoming] a little calmer," the 20-year-old said of adjusting to the NHL. "I'm learning what's going on. I know what to be ready for. It was a learning experience being here the last time, knowing what to do in certain situations. I tried to take that down to Providence and work on some things."

Phil Kessel, who gained his bosses' approval with his two-game rehab stretch with Providence over the weekend, tonight will play in his first NHL game since Dec. 9. Kessel, who underwent surgery for testicular cancer Dec. 12, will center Petr Tenkrat and Stanislav Chistov on the fourth line. "He was getting double-shifted in the second game," Lewis said of Kessel's performance in Providence's 2-1 loss to the Manchester Monarchs Saturday, "and that didn't bother him. To have a full practice with our guys was really good. Get him back into the swing of things after being off for a month. He looks like he's in pretty good shape.". . . Hannu Toivonen, recalled from Providence yesterday when Philippe Sauve was sent down, will back up Tim Thomas tonight. Lewis said Toivonen could play for Providence again this weekend. "This is not a bad thing," Lewis said of Toivonen's up-and-down schedule. "Their schedule is usually loaded on the weekends. We want to get him into some games, get him into a rhythm, just playing some games. He's a young guy who hasn't played a lot. You play and that's how you get better."