Bruins battered defense needs a hand

BOSTON — There’s the blue line, and there’s a thin line.

The Bruins must pay a great deal of attention to both on Thursday night, when they try to re-take the lead in the Stanley Cup final against the Blues despite almost certainly playing Game 5 without Zdeno Chara, their captain and defensive leader.

The Bruins’ defense corps may not be in such bad shape as first feared, as there’s some chance that Matt Grzelcyk can return after missing Games [...]

BOSTON — There’s the blue line, and there’s a thin line.

The Bruins must pay a great deal of attention to both on Thursday night, when they try to re-take the lead in the Stanley Cup final against the Blues despite almost certainly playing Game 5 without Zdeno Chara, their captain and defensive leader.

The Bruins’ defense corps may not be in such bad shape as first feared, as there’s some chance that Matt Grzelcyk can return after missing Games 3 and 4 with a concussion. Chara, however, neither practiced nor reported to TD Garden on Wednesday, two days after a puck he deflected struck him in the face and left him with what the B’s are calling a “facial injury” that prevented him from returning to play in Game 4.

“Not here, didn’t skate, so it makes it a little more difficult” to project that Chara will play in Game 5, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after Wednesday’s practice, in which Grzelcyk participated in a non-contact jersey. “Seeing (Grzelcyk) out there today ... gives us all a little bit of confidence that he’s closer..”

A return to play for Grzelcyk would help the Bruins on two fronts: His skating ability can help them beat the Blues’ omnipresent forecheck, and the B’s could avoid inserting a right-hand option (veteran Steven Kampfer) or an untested prospect (Urho Vaakanainen, with all of two games worth of NHL experience, joined practice on Wednesday) into such a critical game.

Playing without Chara, their biggest (6-foot-9, 250 pounds) player, top shut-down defender, and leader of a penalty-killing unit that has snuffed out 87.5 percent of its shorthanded situations this postseason, is another matter. Veteran John Moore, who has played only seven of 21 playoff games due to a combination of injuries and coach’s decisions, appears to be the pick to skate next to Charlie McAvoy, Chara’s partner.

“Our mentality will be fine, in terms of being able to win without certain players,” Cassidy said. “I think our guys are good that way, knowing the team will pull together.

“It’s just tough when you lose your captain. He played some valuable minutes in this particular series. Against a heavier team, that’s where you miss … what he brings to the table.”

The B’s not only don’t expect a single player to make up for the probable absence of Chara; they also don’t think all the responsibility should fall on the defense corps.

“As a group of five on the ice … we’ve got to do a better job, make sure we’re aware of how we’re going to defend their bigger bodies when (Chara’s) not out there,” Cassidy said. “We’ve got to have a conversation about how our forwards can help in that regard.”

The forwards are all for pitching in, but not to the extent that they focus too much on defending.

“(Defensemen) are playing more minutes, everyone has more responsibility, the pressure’s up a little bit,” said center Charlie Coyle, anticipating extra ice time for the likes of McAvoy and the second pairing of Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo. ”So it’s up to us to come back hard for them.

“We’ve got to help each other out, so (defensemen) can play a little more simple, get as much rest as they can, and not have to work harder than they already are.”

The best way to do that is to avoid prolonged shifts in the defensive zone, which the Blues used to win Game 4, 4-2, and tie the series 2-2. The Bruins, for the second time in the series, were limited to 23 shots on rookie goalie Jordan Binnington, and their difficulties scoring at even strength continued: They’ve only scored six times in 5-on-5 situations over four games.

“We’ve got to work both ways,” said winger Marcus Johansson.

“It comes back to moving our feet all over the ice. We’re a fast team, and we’ve got to use that. (The Blues) are at their best playing in our end, so we’ve got to get back quickly to help our (defensemen) break it out again. That’s going to be a big part of it.”

There’s an intangible involved, too: The Bruins want to keep everyone. from their captain to others playing through injury. in position to win the Cup.

“During the playoffs, things are going to happen,” Johansson said. “There’s a lot of games, and it’s a tough game. It’s hard. A lot of guys have paid a price for us to be here.”