Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters Saturday that defenseman Andrew Ference will be a game-time decision when the B’s take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto Saturday night. Ference has been out since Feb. 26 with a lower-body injury.

In 58 games this season, Ference has two goals and 11 assists for 13 points and a career-high plus-24 rating. If Kampfer plays, Steven Kampfer could be a healthy scratch. Kampfer had a rough game Thursday in Nashville, as a mental lapse allowed the Predators’ game-tying goal, while his holding penalty in overtime led to the game-winner.

Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters after Monday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena that injured defensemen Andrew Ference, Steven Kampfer and Shane Hnidy will travel with the team to Columbus for Tuesday night’s tilt with the Blue Jackets. While Julien noted that Hnidy is still unavailable, either Kampfer (concussion) or Ference (lower body) could suit up on Tuesday.

“We feel that one of them, at least, will be ready, and hopefully two,” Julien said of Kampfer and Ference. The coach added that, “there isn’t any definite decision that’s been made on either of those two players.”

Both Kampfer and Ference have skated with the Bruins the last two days. Kampfer has been out since suffering a concussion on a hit from Mattias Ritola on March 3. Ference has not played since Feb. 26.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said Thursday that Andrew Ference, who has skated the past two days after missing the last five games with a lower-body injury, is getting closer to a return to the Bruins’ lineup and could play as soon as Tuesday.

“Depending on how he does here in the next few days,” Julien said, “I wouldn’t exclude him from the game in Columbus.”

Both Ference and Steven Kampfer will not travel with the B’s when the team goes to Long Island on Friday. Kampfer, out with a concussion, said he is “back to square one” after suffering a headache Wednesday night. He had ridden the stationary bike for 15 minutes earlier in the day Wednesday, doing so for the first time.

WILMINGTON — Bruins coach Claude Julien said that Mark Recchi missed Monday’s practice with personal reasons, but that the veteran forward will travel with the team to Montreal for Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens. Defensemen Steven Kampfer and Andrew Ference will not travel with the B’s. Kampfer, out with a concussion, is still dealing with headaches as he looks to get back on the ice.

“It’s the occasional headache that still bothers you, and that’s about it,” Kampfer said Monday. “It’s frustrating. They’ll go away for a couple of hours and then they’ll come back. It’s getting better as time goes on.”

Ference has been dealing with a lower body injury and was expected to begin skating by Monday, but he remained absent from practice.

“We had predicted [that he would begin skating] yesterday or maybe today, but [he's] not quite there yet, but it really is a day-to-day situation,” Julien said. “Depending on how things go today, it could be tomorrow or the day after, but he’s getting closer.”

WILMINGTON — The Bruins took the ice at Ristuccia Arena Monday morning as they gear up for a stretch this week that features three games in four nights. They’ll kick things off Tuesday in Montreal before hosting the Sabres Thursday and heading to Long Island on Friday.

Everyone was accounted for at Bruins practice but Mark Recchi, Steve Kampfer and Andrew Ference. Patrice Bergeron returned to the B’s for Monday’s skate after missing Saturday’s game due to personal reasons. With Recchi not on the ice, Tyler Seguin took his spot on Bergeron and Brad Marchand‘s line.

This day in Bruins history is a memorable one, but not for good reason. It was a year ago that Matt Cooke changed Marc Savard‘s career with a blindside hit in Pittsburgh.

Tim Thomas looks to continue his success vs. the Lightning this season. (AP)

No time for celebration, as the Bruins, fresh off a 6-0-0 road trip, are back at the Garden for a huge game with the Lightning on Thursday. The teams are tied with 81 points apiece through 63 games, with the B’s holding the tie-breaker for second place given that they’ve won less games via shootout.

It will be Tim Thomas between the pipes, as he’ll put his 28-8-6 record on the line after last playing Saturday night in Vancouver. Tuukka Rask started the Bruins’ last two, earning victories over the Oilers and Senators.

Thomas is 2-0-0 in two starts against Tampa Bay, allowing four goals with a .944 save percentage.

While the Bruins have won their last six, the Lightning have gone 3-2-1 in the same span. They lost a 2-1 contest to the red-hot Devils on Wednesday.

Here are some pre-game notes:

- Comparisons are nice, but even Roger Clemens would say people are beating references to 1972′s perfect six-game road trip with a dead horse.

“I don’t look at it at all,” Shawn Thornton said after the morning skate. “I honestly don’t. It’s purely a coincidence as far as I’m concerned.

“We’ve got a six game thing going here, and it doesn’t matter about anything else. We’re just trying to get seven in a row and then eight in a row. We’ll take it one at time here.”

- Claude Julien offered an update on Andrew Ference, who is out with a lower body injury.

“He got examined yesterday by our doctors and things are going extremely well for him,” Julien said. “We hope to see him back on the ice the beginning of next week. That could be as early as Sunday if things keep going well.”

- No Vincent Lecavalier for the Lightning. He’s out with a mid-body injury on which the Lightning haven’t elaborated much.

- The three new guys in Tomas Kaberle, Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly will play in the Garden as Bruins for the first time Thursday. Kaberle and Kelly have played five games for the B’s since being acquired via trade, while Peverley has four under his belt.

While Bruins fans will welcome all three to the Garden, the focus will likely be on Kaberle, who was the big fish of trade season. Neither of the newcomers have lost a game as a member of the Bruins, and after years of limited team success in Toronto, that’s something Kaberle welcomes.

“My first six years I played in the playoffs every year. The last five, it wasn’t there. It’s tough to always answer the questions to the media of ‘why not,’” Kaberle said after the morning skate. “Hopefully we’ll have a good rest of the season and prepare for the playoffs.”

Kaberle said he is feeling more and more comfortable as he familiarizes himself with the Bruins way.

“I feel good. Obviously it’s a great team. Every line’s got something on the ice, and everybody can score. It’s nice to see that, and with two goalies behind us, we feel pretty comfortable.”

- Kaberle is undoubtedly the biggest name the team added when the moves were made, but Kelly and Peverley are fitting in very nicely on the third line. Both were among the leagues better faceoff men at the time they were acquired, and having both taking draws and killing penalties is something Julien likes to see.

“Right now, you’ve got to be extremely pleased with first of all [Peverley's] faceoffs, how dominant he’s been on draws,” Julien said. “With that line you’ve got a guy taking him on the strong side, and Kelly, a lefty and a righty, so you’ve got to be comfortable with that situation.”

“At the same time I think both Kelly and Peverley have seemed to have built some pretty quick chemistry there on the penalty kill as well. They seem to read off each other extremely well.”

- Thornton doesn’t want the new guys’ ability to come in and contribute immediately to go unnoticed. All three players have wound up on the scoring sheet since joining the B’s.

“They’re a big part of it too. These guys came in and stepped in seamlessly,” Thornton said. “It’s been a really easy transition for us and them.”

- How about this one from the stat truck? Over the last 10 games, Tyler Seguin has more goals than Steven Stamkos. Take that, development.

Well, not exactly. By Stamkos’ standards, the Tampa Bay star is in a slump as far as goals go. He has just two over the last 10 games (Seguin has three), but continues to lead the league with 41. Seguin has no points over his last four games.

Milan Lucic scored what proved to be the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Bruins to a 3-1 win over the Western Conference-leading Canucks on Saturday night.

With the game tied, 1-1, Lucic scored his team-leading 27th goal of the season with 4:38 left in the game. David Krejci created the chance by weaving through a slew of Vancouver defenders before circling behind the net and finding Dennis Seidenberg at the point. Roberto Luongo (22 saves) stopped Seidenberg’s shot, but Lucic was there to bang home the rebound.

Vancouver’s Manny Malhotra opened the scoring 16:58 into the first when he buried a rebound past Tim Thomas (27 saves). Nathan Horton tied it up midway through the second when he took a pass from Lucic and beat Luongo from the low slot. Patrice Bergeron sealed the win with a late empty-netter.

The loss was the Canucks’ first of the season in a game in which they scored first, and just their sixth at home. The Bruins are now 4-0-0 on their current road trip.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

-It was certainly a nice homecoming for Lucic. Friday night, he was inducted into the “Ring of Honour” for the Vancouver Giants, his junior team. Saturday night, he registered a game-winning goal and two assists against his hometown NHL team. Lucic now has four goals in four games on this road trip.

-The Canucks came into the game with the NHL’s best power play, converting 25.1 percent of such opportunities. But the Bruins held Vancouver’s man advantage scoreless in three attempts Saturday. They did a great job of making it difficult for the Canucks to get set up, and actually held them to zero shots on their first power play of the night.

-After going three games without a point, Horton now has four in his last four games. More importantly, he had five shots on goal and was buzzing around the offensive zone all night. The Bruins need Horton to be a scorer down the stretch, and it looks like he’s starting to become just that.

-Tomas Kaberle registered his first point as a Bruin with the second assist on Horton’s goal. He played well in his first two games with the B’s and the power play has been moving the puck well with him as the quarterback, but he had been held off the score sheet until Saturday night.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

-Andrew Ference left the game in the first period with a lower body injury and did not return. Saturday’s signing of Shane Hnidy looked smart no matter what, but it could look even smarter if the injury to Ference turns out to be anything serious. Ference is currently tied with Adam McQuaid for the team lead in plus/minus at plus-24.

-You can probably count on one hand how many times Brad Marchand has been mentioned under this section. But Saturday night, he took two penalties and posted a minus-1 rating. It marked the fourth time this season Marchand has made two visits to the sin bin in one game. Luckily for him, the Bruins’ penalty kill was able to bail him out.

-The third line of Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder is now scoreless in two games together. It’s certainly nothing to panic about, and obviously it’s going to take some time for them to develop chemistry since none of them has ever played together before, but the Bruins will need them to be productive.