Chara returns, but he was left spinning
For the most part, it was business as usual for Zdeno Chara. Returning after a five-game absence, the captain carried his usual workload on the Bruins' blue line in last night's 4-2 loss to the Canadiens.
Paired with Dennis Wideman, Chara skated 23 shifts for 24:50, registered two hits, and assumed his spot as the key gunner on the power play. He showed little evidence of the upper-body injury he suffered March 8 against Washington.
Chara looked the same. He used his reach to fish loose pucks out of trouble spots and leaned on opponents with his big frame. He was even booed by the large Montreal contingent in attendance.
For the most part, his return went as planned. Until Alex Kovalev hopped over the boards.
The Montreal dynamo ruined Chara's return - and the Bruins' night - with two goals and an assist, all against the tandem of Chara and Wideman.
"It's nice to have him back. But what were we, minus-3 tonight?" said Wideman.
They were minus-2. Wideman scored late in the third, but the pair was burned by the Russian superstar for three of Montreal's four goals.
Chara couldn't contain a spinning Kovalev on his first tally.
"I just went wide," said Kovalev. "Chara looked like he was a little flat-footed on that one. I know how tough it is coming back your first game after an injury. You get tired really quick. I just tried to make a move to see if it worked."
Chara was asked how he felt after the game. Not one to offer much - especially after a loss - Chara was brief.
"I felt that I haven't played in two weeks, but it felt all right," he said.
But Kovalev was on a mission, showing no mercy. He split Chara, Wideman, and Thomas's pads before netting his second, leaving Wideman mostly blaming himself.
"Most of those plays came from my side tonight, and I didn't do a good enough job of shutting Kovalev down," said Wideman.
Neither Wideman nor Chara could stop Kovalev on Montreal's fourth goal. In the third period, Kovalev set up Andrei Kostitsyn with a pass from behind the net. With Wideman covering Kovalev, Chara came to help when Kovalev faked short side. Kostitsyn was left at the far post, and Kovalev found him with a saucer pass over the bottom of the net.
"He made that pass from the other half of the net and put it right on [Kostitsyn's] stick. That was a pretty good pass," said Wideman.
Despite Kovalev's effort, Chara's return was a boost to a club that went 1-2-2 without him. The scuffling Bruins are thankful their leader returned.
"It was great having him back," said Thomas. "He's a stalwart. He runs our power play and our penalty kill. We did a great job of stepping up when he was gone, but it's much better having him back."
"Whether he's injured or not, he's present," said Aaron Ward, pointing to Chara's corner stall in the dressing room. "He's at the door when we're coming off the ice. He's at practice. He's meeting one-on-one with the players, checking to see what the heartbeat and the pulse of the team is."
After his team showed a pulse that faded over the game, Bruins coach Claude Julien rated the captain's performance succinctly. He termed Chara's night simply "OK."
"Any time you get him back in the lineup it helps, but bottom line is we still didn't win."
