Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Chara and Seidenberg split up at practice

Dennis Seidenberg

Dennis Seidenberg #44 of the Boston Bruins shoots before scoring in the third period against the Ottawa Senators during the game on April 28, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (April 27, 2013 - Source: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images North America)

Yesterday, they were together at practice.

Today, Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg were split up.

It’s all part of Boston’s preparation for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that features two of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the game -- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- each of whom center a different top line.

It’s been widely assumed that Bruins coach Claude Julien will deploy Chara and Seidenberg against the trio of 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 Crosby, Chris Kunitz, and Pascal Dupuis.

But it’s also possible Julien may go with the defensive pairings he had today at practice:

Chara-Boychuk
Bartkowski-Seidenberg
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

“Maybe it’s pairing, maybe it’s separating,” Julien said earlier this week. “We’ll have something in mind by the time the first game comes around.”

That first game is Saturday in Pittsburgh.