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Kalman: Dose Of Krug Helps Juice Bruins' Offense In Rout Of Senators

BOSTON (CBS) - The Bruins had lost three in a row and the news got worse when they learned center David Krejci landed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, which is expected to keep him out for weeks.

With one game remaining before the Winter Classic on New Year's Day, the Bruins needed some good news.

They got the lift they needed when Torey Krug, who missed the 3-1 road loss to Ottawa on Sunday with an undisclosed injury, took the warmup and then decided he was ready to play.

Krug contributed two assists in the Bruins' 7-3 rout of the Senators at TD Garden on Tuesday.

"Coming into warmups, I just wanted to see how I felt. And I felt pretty good, so it's a good decision," Krug said.

Krug's return was overshadowed by some major offensive explosions by other Bruins players. The team scored a season-high seven goals behind the first NHL hat trick by Jimmy Hayes and two goals each from Patrice Bergeron and Matt Beleskey.

But Krug's return was just as important for the Bruins' cause both in the victory against Ottawa and for their Krejci-less future. Even coach Claude Julien and his staff had no idea if they were going to have Krug available, but they were excited to have him back.

"Well I mean we know how good he is and what he does for us offensively, breaking out and supporting the attack. And you know obviously the power play as well," Julien said. "When you lose a guy like Krejci and then at least you get some good news as well and kind of balance it a little bit."

The undisclosed injury Krug suffered against Buffalo on Saturday was probably something in his lower or middle body. He pulled up a little lame after a race for the puck in the first period and skated off gingerly before failing to return. There were fears he'd be out a while or be slowed down after returning.

Although he said he had to shake off some rust (he could feel it on his D-to-D passes with his partner Adam McQuaid), a few power plays late in the first period and early in the second gave him a chance to get his legs going. And he was flying at both ends of the rink most of the night.

"I thought I was a little rusty at first but I thought I fell into a groove. I was playing a lot with the power plays," Krug said. "So that helps me, doesn't give me time to think and worry about that. So it was definitely a nice game to obviously come back to."

Even with Krejci in the lineup, the Bruins' top-ranked power play had gone four games without a goal. With the score tied 1-1 in the second period Krug helped end the drought when he passed the puck from behind the net to Bergeron for the go-ahead goal. After Ottawa closed to within 3-2 in the third, Krug's slap shot from the left point turned into the primary assist on Bergeron's tipped power-play goal.

Krug, an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State before he signed with Boston in 2012, now has 100 career NHL points.

"That's pretty cool," he said. "I didn't really think about it too much. I kind of had a heads up coming in the last few games. But it's a surreal feeling for sure. Just to be at this level was important for me. But to contribute and obviously help our team win games, that's more important to me. It's nice but we'll move on to 200."

Krug's pursuit of more milestones and Bruins victories will continue against Montreal at Gillette Stadium on Friday. Despite his injury, he never planned on missing it.

"Little bit [worried]. But there's not much that can keep me out of that game. That's a big one," Krug said. "Obviously lots of friends and family coming in for that game. But I think it means a lot to our team and the people in Boston are all going to be watching the game and it's going to be a big even. There wasn't much that could keep me out of the next game and I'm glad that I made the decision to play tonight."

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

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