Breaking: The worst is confirmed for Chara and the Bruins

Zdeno Chara did not listen to doctors during Game 4 on Monday night, when he was advised not to return to the contest after taking a puck to the face. 

However, he might not be able to avoid the fact that he could miss Game 5 on Thursday night, as the series which is tied at two games a piece, shifts back to Boston. 

Chara returned to the bench in the third period sporting a full cage after taking a shot to the mouth from St. Louis Blues centre Brayden Schenn early in the second period. The Bruins’ captain wanted to be with his teammates and didn’t want to miss out on the action, despite being barely able to speak. 

Already without veteran defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who was injured during Game 2, the Bruins have a tough task ahead of them for the rest of the series. They have to prepare for the possibility they won’t have either Chara or Grzelcyk back.

Blues insider Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic has revealed that sources close to the Bruins have revealed that Chara has suffered a broken jaw and could miss the rest of the series. 

Head coach Bruce Cassidy even acknowledged that the Bruins might go with seven defensemen for Game 5. 

Bruins insider Ty Anderson revealed on Tuesday what would be his lineup going into Game 5 if Chara remains on the sidelines with what could be a broken jaw…

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci
Johansson-Coyle-Heinen
Nordstrom-Kuraly-Acciari

Moore-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Vaak-Clifton
Kampfer

Rask

We will surely know more on the status of Chara and the impact on the Bruins’ lineup tomorrow as we get closer to Game 5 on Thursday night.