Bruins’ Zdeno Chara still rediscovering his game on the fly after long layoff

Zdeno Chara’s heart, dedication and leadership have always been unassailable.

In 14 seasons in Boston, the Bruins captain, who turned 43, in March, hasn’t been himself in the postseason yet. He’s looked a little slow while struggling to move the puck effectively on breakouts.

Before the pause he was playing 21 minutes per game with a +26, which is best on the team and tied for the eighth in the NHL.

Three round robin games and two playoffs games are too small a sample to draw too many conclusions from. But Chara is at -5 since the restart and has played fewer minutes than Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk at just over 19:05. Those numbers are skewed a bit because Cassidy didn’t want him playing big minutes in games that don’t count. But he was fifth in minutes among Bruins blue-liners in Game 1 and Game 2 as well

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t expect Chara’s struggles to be permanent.

“He’s not exactly where he wants to be, like a lot of guys,” Cassidy said. “He’s working out, he’s a machine. I think he missed maybe one day because his test result didn’t come back on time. This guy is a dedicated guy. He knows he needs to put the work in and he did on the ice again today. I thought he was better yesterday, and it’s progressively gotten better each game. There’s a lot of speed in the game right now because everyone is fresh, but those bigger bodies as you know over the years, come in handy as the playoffs go along and the pace slows down a little bit.

“The inside ice becomes tougher to get to and the will to get there, et cetera, and that’s where Zee becomes a force. We know that,” Cassidy continued. “He’s still a great penalty killer. I thought he moved the puck a little quicker against a quick forecheck the other night… So Zee’s game is progressing. He’s giving us what he’s got. We have to make sure we don’t put him in spots where he has to play too many minutes. I think we’ve done a good job with that. It would be nice to have a lead for a longer period of time. That’s when he plays his best.”

Chara wasn’t interested in self-reflection.

“I try to do whatever I can to help the team as much as I can and do my job when I’m on the ice,” he said.

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