By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com
BOSTON -- There was a report in the Boston Herald two days ago that Marc Savard would be attending Games 3 and 4 at the Garden in his first visit back to Boston since announcing he was going to sit out the rest of the season.
But a team source checked in with CSNNE.com on Wednesday and said Savard was not in Boston and not coming down for either of the games.
The Bs center is still battling the post-concussion syndrome symptoms that have plagued him since his latest head injury suffered in Colorado. He's hopeful he can make it to Boston during this postseason run if the team keeps on winning.
Coach Claude Julien felt like hes seen some good things recently out of Milan Lucic, who's searching to break out of his 20-game goal-scoring drought. Even though the goals aren't coming there are plenty of plays being made by Lucic in the offensive end, but they are passes leading to goals rather than the lamp-lighters themselves because the defenses are paying so much attention to No. 17,
I liked watching his game in Game 3, said Julien on Lucic. He was a much better player, he was skating better, he was physical and made some plays. In practice he's really coming around, and sooner or later youre going to see him contribute on the score sheet.
Shane Hnidy played less than three minutes in Game 3, and Julien said that, because of power plays and special teams, Hnidy wasn't needed any more than that. With McQuaid very unlikely to play on Friday, count on Hnidy to play at least a slightly bigger role in the Bs defensemen corps.
Boston Bruins
He was ready to go and he still is ready to go, Julien said. We have confidence in him, but we also understand the fact that he hasnt played much this year because of injury. Right now the guys we have in our lineup are capable of sharing our ice time.
The talk of the day Thursday, obviously. about the Bs being up 3-0 in the series against the Flyers and sitting on the precipice of an Eastern Conference finals berth, just as they were last season before the roof caved in on them. Julein and his players are all holding firm to turning the page on last year and focusing on winning one more game to put down a Philly team thats proven it wont quit.
Right now I like where we are, said Julien. The biggest thing will be putting the past aside and thinking about the present. Living in the moment. Thats what has enabled us to stay focused.
Steve Kampfer practiced with the Bruins for the first time on Thursday in a no-contact session, and is still some time away from being ready for game action.
I think right now he just started skating yesterday for the first time, Julien said. He felt good enough to skate with us today. We had no contact in our drills, so it was a good skate for him. Were moving forward as were being told by our medical staff. Hes looking better every day, so we just have to stay with it. But hes not ready.
Zdeno Chara was given the day off on Thursday after his man-sized Game 3 against the Flyers, which featured a pair of goals and 28-plus minutes of punishing defensive play.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs