Murray out at least 2 games

Hip flexor puts RW on the shelf

WILMINGTON - For at least the next two games, the Bruins must survive without their No. 1 right wing.

Glen Murray injured a hip flexor in Thursday's 5-4 shootout loss to Pittsburgh. Murray, the team's third-leading goal scorer (10), missed practice yesterday and will be evaluated after the club returns from its Christmas break Wednesday.

"We want to make sure it doesn't get worse," said coach Claude Julien. "It got to the point where he couldn't help us [Thursday]."

The Bruins also could be without winger Peter Schaefer, who sat out yesterday's practice and is questionable for today's game against the Blues at TD Banknorth Garden because of a bruised left foot. While skating with an altered boot Thursday to protect his foot, Schaefer played only 13:45, the least amount of ice time he's seen this season.

Because of the up-front absences, Julien constructed a new No. 1 line with Marco Sturm and Phil Kessel serving as Marc Savard's wingmen. He dropped P.J. Axelsson to the second unit with Glen Metropolit and Chuck Kobasew. Julien said he was at a trial stage with his new lines and could change them today.

"Speed," Savard of Kessel's asset. "He can score goals when he gets his chances. So hopefully, I can find him in the zone. He can create some chances on the offensive rush. So if me and Sturmy can find some holes, too, maybe he can find us."

Down in front

Milan Lucic took Murray's spot with the No. 1 power-play unit yesterday and should remain in that spot today.

"Obviously, you want to be on the power play," Lucic said with a smile after practice at Ristuccia Arena.

Last season, Lucic usually played along the boards on the power play for his junior team, grinding down low with Wacey Rabbit, currently a first-year pro in Providence. But now Lucic will be expected to take up space in front of the net, filling goalies' sightlines and making himself available for deflections, tip-ins, and other clean-up-the-garbage duties.

Lucic contributed immediately on the power play Thursday when he drove to the net and drew the Pittsburgh defense, opening a hole for Dennis Wideman's tying slapper.

"I'm not righthanded, so I can't really open up for the one-timer," Lucic, who drove from right to left, said of the play. "So I thought it would be better to go back door. It worked. I took three guys with me to the back door and opened up Wideman. Good thing he put it right upstairs."

No switch needed

Tim Thomas, playing in his first game Thursday since injuring his groin Dec. 5, allowed the first shot he saw to go in. Two more first-period pucks went through, but Julien didn't think it was the right move to replace Thomas with Alex Auld.

"I could have pulled him to spark our team and wake our team up. That could have been a solution," Julien said. "But Timmy's been really good for us since the start of the year, and that was his first game in two weeks. So maybe he was a little rusty. But the only way he can get out of it is by leaving him in there. I guess, in hindsight, it was the right decision because he got better. He was very good at the end."

Scratches skating

Brandon Bochenski and Shawn Thornton, healthy scratches Thursday, were part of the 12-forward mix yesterday. Bochenski skated on a line with Lucic and Vladimir Sobotka, while Thornton was the right wing with Jeremy Reich and Petteri Nokelainen . . . Andrew Alberts (postconcussion syndrome symptoms) didn't practice and most likely won't play today for the second straight game. The Bruins promoted Matt Lashoff from Providence to bolster the blue line. It was Lashoff's second recall of the season. He has 4 goals and 16 assists in 28 games for the P-Bruins. On Nov. 10, he got 9:26 of ice time in Boston's 2-1 win over the Sabres. Last season, Lashoff played 12 NHL games, registering two assists . . . Savard and Zdeno Chara remained on the ice after practice to shoot a commercial for Versus . . . The Bruins are 1-2-0-1 in their last four games, all at the Garden. "They know we're a team that really has to work hard and earn everything they have," Julien said of his players. "So whenever your game slides a little bit, it shows. It's shown in the last little while, probably since [a 5-3 win at Atlanta Dec. 12]. We haven't been playing as well as we had been since the start of the season. You do hit some bumps in the road, so when you hit bumps in the road, you rely a lot on the character of the players. [Thursday] night, we at least showed some good character."

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.