BOSTON – Matt Grzelcyk took yet another step in his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery on Friday, as he shed the non-contact jersey he’d been wearing earlier in the week in exchange for a regular white sweater during the B’s morning practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
The blue liner, who was originally given a timeline of five months to recover from a right shoulder stabilization procedure he underwent on June 3, was termed “ahead of schedule” by coach Jim Montgomery on Thursday.
“He’s got to take some contact. He’s got to get into hockey condition. There’s some hurdles there still but it’s obviously a positive sign that he’s now in a [regular] contact jersey,” Montgomery said on Friday when asked what was keeping Grzelcyk from game action at this stage of his rehab.
Taylor Hall, meanwhile, remained in a non-contract jersey for Friday’s practice. The winger suffered an upper-body injury last Saturday and his status for Wednesday’s season opener in Washington remains in question.
“He’s in a non-contact jersey so I don’t have an answer for that,” Montgomery said when asked if Hall would be ready to take on the Capitals.
Video: Montgomery chats with the media on Friday at WIA
With Hall’s return date unknown, Montgomery is planning to stick with the all-Czech line Pavel Zacha, David Krejciand David Pastrnak – a trio that combined for eight points on Wednesday night against the New York Rangers.
“The opportunity for the growth in [Zacha’s] game is high,” said Montgomery. “I would like to get him settled on a line as quickly as possible so we can see more growth in his game…I’m thinking it’s with the Czechs right now, from what I’ve seen . They were really good in practice [Thursday].
“The game they played [in New York] was really good. They seemed to have a lot of jump. Is that jump just because he’s getting better throughout camp and he can do that with anyone, I don’t know? Right now, that chemistry he had with Krejci and Pasta was really good.
“That’s what I’m thinking right now. Again, short memory. If they’re not good tomorrow, put it in the blender.”
Video: Russo sits down with Pavel Zacha
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