BRIGHTON, Mass – One day after getting on the ice in a positive sign, Riley Nash was missing from a full Bruins practice on Tuesday morning at Warrior Ice Arena ahead of Game 1 Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden.
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Nash missed the final five games of the regular season after getting hit in the side of the head with a Torey Krug shot. He needed more than 40 stitches to close up a gash around his right ear and neck.
Bruce Cassidy said that Nash’s absence “doesn’t make it more probable” he’s going to play on Thursday night, which in my hockey coach translation sounds like it’s “less probable” that Nash is going to be ready to go. It makes one wonder if there’s a bigger injury at play than the swelling and stitches associated with getting hit in the side of the head with a shot, but don’t expect the Bruins to shed light on that at playoff time.
“He didn’t skate today, so that doesn’t make it more probable that he would play on Thursday,” said Cassidy, who said he wouldn’t term it a setback with the third-line center quite yet. “But I’m not going to rule him out.”
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Cassidy didn’t term it a setback, but indicated that fellow missing forward Noel Acciari (off the ice with a maintenance day) would be the guy most likely to step up and fill in for Nash as the third-line center for Game 1. Brian Gionta stepped up and filled in as the third line center at practice Tuesday, but clearly wouldn’t be the choice for that spot on Thursday night.
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It looks as if Ryan Donato might be the odd man out as the spare forward in Game 1. Said Cassidy: "One of the questions is how many young guys can you have in your lineup at once and sustain your level of play in the second season? A Game 1 [scratch] doesn't mean [being out for] Game 2. Things can change in a hurry."
Here are the line combos and D-pairings from Tuesday’s practice with Rick Nash also termed “probable” to return for Game 1 on Thursday night vs. the Maple Leafs:
Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci-Nash
Heinen-Gionta-Backes
Schaller-Kuraly-Wingels
Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Miller
Grzelcyk-McQuaid
Holden
Rask