Zdeno Chara injury has Boston Bruins thinking outside the box

As they try to take the lead back in the Stanley Cup Final, an injury to Zdeno Chara has the Boston Bruins thinking outside the box.

Heading into Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, with a couple players back in the fold, the St. Louis Blues shook up their forward lines and defensive pairings. It worked, to the tune of a 4-2 victory to even the series, and in the wake of a serious injury to defenseman Zdeno Chara the Boston Bruins are having to think outside the box heading into Game 5 Thursday night.

Chara left Monday night’s game after taking a puck to the face, and he has a broken jaw. His status for Game 5 is unclear, and the Bruins are already down defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who hasn’t played since Game 2 after an illegal hit from Blues center Oskar Sundqvist. Grzelcyk has been in concussion protocol.

If Chara and Grzelcyk are both unable to play Thursday night, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy hinted that a forward-heavy lineup is coming.

Playing seven defenseman means 11 forwards would be in the mix for Boston in Game 5.. Steven Kempfer, who has played in just two games in these playoffs is likely to step prominently into the lineup on the blue line, with Jeremy Lauzon (22 regular season games) and Urho Vaakanainen (two regular season games) as a couple other options.

In that scenario, with Chara and Grzelcyk out, the Bruins lineup might look like this.

Forwards (left to right on the lines):

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Jake Debrusk-David Krejci-Marcus Johannson (Cassidy hinted at the possibility of Pastrnak getting some time on the second line)
Sean Kuraly-Charlie Coyle-David Backes
Two of RW Danton Heinen, C Noel Acciari and LW Joakim Nordstrom

Defensive Pairings:

Torey Krug-Charlie McAvoy
Brandon Carlo-Kempfer
John Moore-Lauzon
Vaakanainen

Goalie: Tuukka Rask

The Bruins can seize proverbial control of the series with a win in Game 5, and it’s hard to see Chara not making every attempt to play. But in a scenario he can’t, Cassidy is showing flexibility with the stakes high.