WILMINGTON, Mass.Johnny Boychuk is feeling better, but he might be missing a couple of games after being on the wrong end of a Chris Neil train-wreck hit Saturday night in Ottawa.
Neil caught Boychuk with his head down and blasted Boychuk with one of the hardest body checks thrown this season, and Boychuk was still feeling concussion symptoms a couple of days following the hit. Bs general manager Peter Chiarelli said that Boychuk was still a little foggy on Sunday, and the B's defenseman was absent from practice on the Ristuccia Arena ice on Monday morning.
Claude Julien said Monday that Boychuk was day-to-day. In the interim, he paired the playoff defensemen duo of Dennis Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara together in the interim. The Bruins may fill Boychuks spot with a trade executed this afternoonJohnny Oduya and Bryan Allen have been mentioned most prominentlyor it could be up to Andrew Bodnarchuk to fill in for No. 55 during his injury absence.
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It appears very unlikely that the ultra-durable Boychuk will be available for tomorrow nights rematch against the Senators, but the Bs coaching staff hadnt yet made that determination.
With Johnny were dealing with post-concussion symptoms and hes day-to-day, said Julien. But hes already feeling much better.
Both a source close to Boychuk and his own teammates seem to think his issue wasnt a serious injury like the one thats kept Nathan Horton out for over a month. But anyone in hockey knows theres no sure timetable when it comes to concussion symptoms.
Julien also called Shawn Thornton "a question mark" for Tuesday night's game against the Senators with the flu bug that's been attacking the B's tough guy for more than a week. Both Boychuk and Thornton weren't at practice on Monday morning.