Defenseman Dennis Wideman shares the gift of reading with Tajarie Miller at Franciscan Hospital for Children.
WILMINGTON - Playing was the thing yesterday. After four games in six nights, punctuated by a 3-1 loss to the Devils in front of a storm-sapped crowd of perhaps 3,500 at TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night, the Bruins held an optional skate yesterday at Ristuccia Arena. Only a handful of players, most recovering from injuries, skated. Tuukka Rask joined Tim Thomas (returning from a groin pull) in net, and Bobby Allen (back spasms), Brandon Bochenski (healthy scratch Thursday), and Shawn Thornton (broken foot) went through their paces with the assistant coaches.
But it was still a workday for the rest of the team.
"Everybody still worked out off-ice to make sure we have good legs [tonight] and recover well," said coach Claude Julien. "We're not taking the day off, but it's good, mentally being away from the ice."
In the afternoon, the team had another change of scenery as groups of players and coaches fanned out to deliver toys to young patients at seven Boston hospitals. Two weeks ago, the Bruins donned game jerseys and Santa hats and descended on a Target store to buy toys and supplies for yesterday's excursion.
"We got everything," said P.J. Axelsson, "from books to games to diapers and formula."
"I tried to get stuff I would've liked when I was a kid, the cheap-thrill stuff," said Thomas. Though he acknowledged to picking up some Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends items, his favorite selection was an air-powered rocket.
Faced with an unrelenting December schedule, and an enervated team that dragged through Thursday's loss on heavy legs, Julien knew his players needed a change of pace. There was a feeling Thursday's game was one the Bruins could have nailed down, despite their weariness.
"As a coach, you know your team," he said. "It's three games in four nights, and you get home [from a Wednesday game in Atlanta] and there's a team waiting for you. Mentally, we were not as sharp as we can be. You've got to learn to fight through that. Those situations are going to happen again."
Some timely saves from newbie Alex Auld, playing his fourth straight game, kept his teammates close as the Devils picked up the pace in the second half of the game.
"Alex made some big saves in the third period," Julien said, "because the chances they had in the third, they should have put that game away. Let's be realistic about it."
One aspect of the game Julien considers a work in progress is the penalty kill. The Bruins are last in the league on the PK at 75.6 percent.
"We're making some mistakes there and if we say 'it is what it is,' then we're in trouble," Julien said.
The coach noted the penalty-killing unit has had to adjust to the loss of Patrice Bergeron (concussion), while Chuck Kobasew and Glen Metropolit are new to killing penalties.
"You've got to work with what you've got," said Julien. "We still have some adjustments to make; we've got to get better at clearing the puck out of our end. There's inconsistency in our penalty kill - we'll be showing signs of good things happening and then we'll have a breakdown.
"There's not a million different setups on power plays. We dissect [teams] to see what they like to do . . . but the issue is not clearing the puck out or a guy overcommitting when he shouldn't and getting caught out of position and then it's in your net."
Julien, incidentally, moved Thomas's status from day to day to doubtful for tonight's game against Columbus. "I'm not going to say no," Julien said of the goalie, "because he's feeling better every day."
Allen and Thornton remain day to day.
Wednesday's snowstorm and mangled traffic throughout the Boston area kept most fans away from the game, and nearly KO'd the coach, too.
"I went through hell last night," said Julien. "I left the rink at 1 [after the morning skate] and went home to Lexington."
After Julien realized he would not be able to drive back to Boston in time, he scrambled to catch a train. "I got in to the station at 6," Julien said. "I could see the fans pointing [when they spotted me]. It's just another chapter for my book. From now on, I'm going to keep an extra suit at the rink."
Several of the injured players admitted, anonymously to avoid a fine, the traffic snarl kept them from reaching the Garden on time.
"It's good so many of the guys live in the North End," said Andrew Ference. "[P.J. Axelsson] and I just walked over."
It was not so much fun for players in cars. "It was ridiculous, maddening," said Thomas. "It was like one of those Frogger games," said Allen. "You'd go for a while and then stop."
Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
