BOSTON -- As usual, Bruins adviser Claude Julien refused to divulge anybody lineup changes as his team achieved final preparations Wednesday for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
But it appears unlikely that defenseman Adam McQuaid will be in the lineup for Wednesday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden. McQuaid suffered a cervix injury early in Boston's 3-2 OT victory in Monday's Game 2 and spent portion of the night in the hospital.
McQuaid did not skate at Wednesday's morning skate, replaced by seventh defenseman Shane Hnidy.
If Hnidy gets the cry to play against a desperate Flyer crew in Game 3, he insists he will be prepared.
"I arrange to play and you never know what is going to happen, so my preparation doesn't change," Hnidy said. "I prep for the game physically and mentally, and when the time comes I go in there."
nhlWid=Math.random()*10000000000000000; file.write('The time has already come once for the practiced Hnidy this postseason. He was the last-minute replacement for Zdeno Chara while dehydration laid the Boston captain low for Game 2 in the first round. Hnidy played sparingly in that game, a detriment to Montreal, catching seven shifts and totaling equitable 4:13 of ice time.
Despite the paucity of playing time -- he only played in three regular-season games after signing as a free-agent late in the normal season -- Hnidy says his first-round exposure to the speed and physicality of the playoffs can merely help if he is called upon to contribute Wednesday night.
"That's where experience helps,
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Hnidy says the fact that he plays a easy, chip-it-in, chip-it-out game helps him when he is inserted into the lineup. If he finds himself musing too much or trying to make the fancy play,
cheap nfl jerseys, he knows he is getting away from his game and can check himself.
"We're fortunate Shane Hnidy is coming in as a guy with 30-something playoff games under his belt already and more than a few hundred games in the NHL," Boston winger Shawn Thornton said. "I guess we're lucky that our seventh guy has that much experience and this is naught new for him, so he'll understand what to expect."
Julien wouldn't speculate ashore how he might use Hnidy on Wednesday night, though the truth that it namely a third-pair defenseman missing and no Chara will naturally impact his thought process. Also, Boston leads this sequence 2-0 afterward a pair of wins in Philly. In Game 2 against Montreal, the Bruins were looking for a conquer to split the first 2 games by home.
"He's got experience and we'll use him as we penetrate appropriate," Julien said. "Again,
customized nfl jerseys, you watch a actor play and whether he's showing signs of a guy doing a great job, you give him a tiny more ice time."
No stuff how much time Hnidy sees Wednesday, he is at truce with the road that has led him to this point.
Hnidy sat out nearly the plenary regular season this annual, waiting for the right attempt. After playing full-time for the Minnesota Wild last season, he knew his 35-year-old body still had some NHL hockey left in its bones. So he waited and waited and waited some more, until the Bruins eventually called in February, searching fjust aboutme veteran depth for the postseason.
"I couldn't have inquired for anything better," Hnidy said. "This is where I wanted to be. I was talking to a friend a while back and saying in February I was still at home watching hockey and here I am as part of a team that is doing well.
"When I think of that, it truly makes you appreciate it so much more and I want to use it to my convenience. I'm very lucky to be in this (situation). I went for it, but at the same time to get the opportunity, I want to make the maximum of it."
Wednesday, he might just get that chance afresh.