The Boston Bruins might be facing a bit of new trouble to add on to their already slow start after Zdeno Chara left last night’s game in the first period. Chara laid a huge open ice hit on to Islanders captain John Tavares, but somehow managed to injure himself in the process. While the play appeared innocent enough, for Chara at least, the Bruins captain and leader in minutes played left the game and did not return.
You can see the bone crushing hit in the video below. After watching it a few times though, it is hard to tell exactly where he might have hurt himself.
[youtube id=”nin3CnN58ZA” width=”620″ height=”360″]
In the time since Chara left the game, it has been confirmed that he damaged ligaments in his knee and will be missing time. He will miss between 4-6 weeks due to the damage, but it is still unknown at this time if he will require surgery.
CONFIRMED: Chara out 4-6 weeks with ligament damage to knee could face possible surgery.
— Joe McDonald (@JoeyMacHockey) October 24, 2014
At 4-6 weeks, Chara would likely return towards the end of November. This would equate to anywhere from 10-15 games missed, which is quite substantial when you are a player of Chara’s caliber. Chara has been averaging nearly 22 minutes on the ice per game for the Bruins, and spends much of his time playing against the opposing teams best players.
The Bruins have also faced quite a rocky start to the season. After 9 games this season, Chara’s team has managed a less than sufficient 4-5 record. Tuukka Rask’s play has also been sub par. He’s currently 2.91 goals against and has a .880 save percentage. Both numbers are well below his efforts from last season.
How do you think the Chara injury will affect the Bruins going forward? Do you think the injury will significantly hurt them over the next month? Or will Tuukka Rask pick up his play and help keep the Bruins headed in the right direction?
