Julien ‘very hopeful' Seidenberg will play vs. Rangers

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It was a little eyebrow-raising to hear that Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg had been scratched for Monday afternoons game against the Winnipeg Jets with a lower body injury. All is well thats ends well as the Bruins reconfigured their defensemen pairingsmost notably putting Dougie Hamilton together with Zdeno Charaand put together a competent defensive effort to take a 2-1 shootout win over the Jets at TD Garden.

It was even better news following the matinee when Claude Julien indicated that Seidenbergs absence was more precautionary than anything else, and there was a possibility hed be back practicing with the team on Tuesday. The German defenseman had been a full participant in Sunday practice after logging a team-high 23:59 of ice time against the Rangers, and appeared to have tweaked something in his leg after a collision with Ryan Callahan late in the game.

Hes day-to-day; lower body. Theres a good chance hell be on the ice tomorrow. Were very, very hopeful that hell be in next game. This is a situation, early in the season you want to sacrifice one game so that it doesnt become a two-week situation, said Claude Julien. Were just getting going here, its such a condensed schedule that sometimes if you take those chances by playing him, youll make it worse than better. We took a precaution and we were willing to live without him today. Hopefully, thats all its going to be.

Seidenbergs absence also meant that newcomer Aaron Johnson made his Boston Bruins debut paired with Johnny Boychuk, and was part of a Bs defensemen corps that all needed to raise their games without their Teutonic stalwart. Johnson finished with 16:03 of ice time and blocked a couple of shots, but all the blueliners were on high alert.

It just happens with everybody. If somebody is out of the lineup, somebody else has to fill that spot. Thats the good thing about this team, said Zdeno Chara. We have a lot of depth on this team, and guys are really taking it as a charge and motivation to be adding more minutes and playing maybe a bigger role.

As Julien indicated, the Bruins are hopeful that Seidenberg will be back in the lineup when they travel to Madison Square Garden Wednesday night for the rematch with the Rangers.

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