That Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara may not be used against Sidney Crosby in the Eastern Conference finals is testament to the tremendous depth the Pittsburgh Penguins boast among their forwards
Chara is considered by many to be the best shutdown blue-liner in the game; Crosby is considered by most to be the best player in the game. Yet the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa believes the big Slovak, along with Dennis Seidenberg, will be deployed against Pittsburgh’s “power line” of Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Jarome Iginla.
Boston’s other top pairing of Johnny Boychuk and Matt Bartkowski -- plus the Patrice Bergeron line up front -- would then be assigned to contain Crosby, Chris Kunitz, and Pascal Dupuis.
Of course, there’s also the possibility B’s head coach Claude Julien could split up Chara and Seidenberg.
“Maybe it’s pairing, maybe it’s separating,” Julien said. “We’ll have something in mind by the time the first game comes around.”
Chara and Seidenberg were a pair Tuesday at practice.
So here at #Bruins practice, top 3 D pairs (so far) are Chara-Seidenberg; Bartkowski-Boychuk, Krug-McQuaid.
— Mike Loftus (@MLoftus_Ledger) May 28, 2013