Posted by Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe Staff April 18, 2008 01:53 PM
Patrice Bergeron was one of five Bruins to practice today, but he will most likely not be cleared for action for tomorrow’s Game 6 at TD Banknorth Garden.
“I doubt it,” Bergeron said. “We’ll see.”
Bergeron was not sure whether he would meet with Dr. Robert Cantu and Dr. Bert Zarins prior to tomorrow’s game. He was originally scheduled for a follow-up meeting on either Sunday or Monday. Bergeron estimated he’s still six or seven pounds off his usual playing weight.
“I guess he does it for me, not for him,” Bergeron said of Cantu. “He’s just trying to do what’s best for me. At the same time, it’s hard. I’d like to be out there.”
Zarins has classified Bergeron’s concussion as the worst he’s seen in 30 years.
* Claude Julien termed Aaron Ward a game-time decision. Ward made it through the entire practice without limitations. Ward said he was close to being back in the lineup last night, so all directions point toward the veteran making his return tomorrow. If Ward is available, Andrew Alberts would most likely be the healthy scratch.
* Julien said he went back to his old No. 1 power-play unit (Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman at the points, Marc Savard on the right-side half-wall, Glen Murray in the slot, Marco Sturm at the right-side goal line) because of the familiarity factor. “Everybody knows it wasn’t working well,” said Julien, whose team netted a pair of power-play goals last night (Chara, Phil Kessel). “They seemed nervous and they weren’t executing well. Sometimes going back to the old way puts everybody in a more comfortable situation. We tried it. It could have gone either way. It could have backfired. But doing nothing was not the right thing to do.”
* Both teams have scored 10 goals during the series.