WILMINGTON - When the Penguins arrive at TD Banknorth Garden tonight, the object of the Bruins' pursuit will be playing for the opposing club.
Marian Hossa will take to the Garden ice, most likely centered by Evgeni Malkin, while wearing the white No. 18 jersey of the Penguins, who forked over significant components of their organization to Atlanta for the Slovakian sniper.
"I think it's important for us not to put too much focus on that," said coach Claude Julien. "It's about the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have more than Hossa in their lineup. Malkin's played great for them. They're where they're at because they're a pretty good hockey club. I think we have to focus on our game and not too much on what happened on [Tuesday at the trade deadline]."
To acquire Hossa and forward Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero parted with forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen, prospect Angelo Esposito, and a future first-round pick - a price too steep for Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to counter. Instead, he held on to youngsters like Phil Kessel, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Mark Stuart, refusing to meet Thrashers GM Don Waddell's asking price for a player who is all but certain to hit unrestricted free agency July 1.
Kessel, the likeliest centerpiece of any deal, said he wasn't distracted by trade talks.
"If you get traded, you get traded," said Kessel, who noted that he didn't feel relieved by the deadline because he didn't worry about a possible swap.
"You can't do anything about it. You can't control it."
So for the rest of the season, the only roster moves that might take place include the return of Andrew Alberts and perhaps a call-up from Providence, with Matt Lashoff and Matt Hunwick possible candidates.
"I don't think anybody likes to be moving at this time of year, unless they're an unhappy player that really wants out," said Julien. "I'd say for the most part, maybe 95 percent or more [players] dread changing teams, especially at this time of year. We had a group where 100 percent of the guys wanted to stay and weren't looking to move from Boston. [Tuesday] night, in that situation, I think we proved it by our team play [in a 4-0 win over the Senators]. I didn't see any drop in play from any player. It just shows that guys want to be here."
Cracking the whip
After his teammates concluded practice yesterday at Ristuccia Arena, Alberts hit the ice for a solo session with strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides.For approximately 25 minutes, Whitesides ran Alberts through a series of punishing drills that left the defenseman red in the face and doubled over for air. One drill had Whitesides clinging onto Alberts's back as the defenseman sprinted through the neutral zone, held back by the coach.
The Bruins looked for defensive help prior to Tuesday's deadline. But they hope Alberts can recover from what has been diagnosed as a neck injury. Alberts is scheduled to be reevaluated tomorrow, and if he doesn't experience any setbacks, there's a chance he will practice with his teammates next week. He hasn't played since Dec. 15.
Kobasew healing
Chuck Kobasew practiced for the first time since suffering a groin injury late in last Thursday's 5-4 shootout win over Florida. Kobasew recalled that he felt a stinging pain when he fell after absorbing a hit from defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. Kobasew missed the last two games but said he felt fine yesterday. Julien termed Kobasew probable for tonight . . . Peter Schaefer said his shin felt fine Tuesday, when he played for the first time since Feb. 5 . . . Julien was surprised by Ottawa's performance, as the Senators played with little desperation and were blanked for the second straight game. "We've seen this team enough to know that their confidence level is just not there," said Julien. "This was not a team that I recognized. With the talent that they have, they just didn't seem like a confident group." . . . Malkin's line since Sidney Crosby sprained his ankle Jan. 14: 13-19 -32 in 19 games. "Those are two pretty identical players as far as liking the pressure that comes with leading a team," said Julien. "They seem to thrive on that. That's the quality of certain players - guys who can handle it and love it." . . . Patrice Bergeron (concussion) skated on his own for approximately 20 minutes. Bergeron took slow circles in one end, firing wrist shots on an open net.Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.
rising
falling 