The Bruins have gotten used to playing without their top center, but having their top two pivots has been a challenge. With Marc Savard continuing to work his way back from post-concussion syndrome and David Krejci out with a concussion, the Bruins have had to move Patrice Bergeron up to the top line and Blake Wheeler back to center for the first time since his college days.

AP Photo

TSN reported during Thursday night’s game that Savard could be back by the end of the month, but Claude Julien and the B’s aren’t crossing their fingers for a set date.

“I don’t think anybody knows exactly the date,” Julien said on Friday. “I think we know that he’s doing well, and right know he’s progressing to the pot where he’s at least close to joining us for practice. He hasn’t been cleared to do that yet, and even less for contact. There’s a lot of speculation right now, and as far we’re concerned we’re still taking it day by day and seeing a guy progress in a positive way, which is encouraging. That’s basically all we can do right now, like everybody else, is speculate.”

Krejci, meanwhile, has been out since last Saturday’s game against the Blues, when he went headfirst into the boards after a collision with T.J. Oshie. He was diagnosed with a moderate concussion because he suffered amnesia, and the Bruins expected to be without his services for at least a week.

An encouraging sign came for Krejci on Friday, as he rode a stationary bike, the most physically demanding exercise he’s been put through following the concussion.

“He’s progressing nicely, I would say,” Julien said. “Right now he’s at the stage where he’s on the bike. If things go well then he continues to move forward if things don’t go well, then we pull him back.”

After falling to the Canadiens at home on Thursday, the Bruins will return to action with a tilt against the Senators at TD Garden on Saturday.

Move over, scratches and Marco Sturm. It appears Marc Savard will soon be skating with a different group.

According to the Boston Globe, center Marc Savard will begin practicing with the Bruins “in the next 2-3 days.”

”He’s doing much, much better,” Peter Chiarelli told Kevin Paul Dupont. ”He has been symptom-free for a while now, increasing his skating…all in all, he looks good.”

Savard has been suffering from post-concussion syndrome symptoms, the result of a concussion suffered last March 7 against the Penguins at the hands of Matt Cooke.

The Bruins are still dealing with the bad that came of their last trip to Pittsburgh, so it’s only natural for memories to kick in as they return to face the Penguins (now at the CONSOL Energy Center) for the first time since March 7 of last season.

Of course, it was on that day that a head-hunting Matt Cooke blindsided Marc Savard, who would miss the rest of the season and return for the second round of the playoffs before encountering more post-concussion syndrome symptoms that still have him a ways away from returning to the B’s lineup.

The Bruins caught flack for not responding to the Cooke hit 11 days later at the Garden. Shawn Thornton fought Cooke and Zdeno Chara squared off with Mike Rupp, but the Bruins put only 17 shots on Marc-Andre Fleury, who easily shut out the B’s in a 3-0 Penguins victory.

“It creates a bit of a rivalry between the two [teams],” Milan Lucic told NESN on Tuesday. “We definitely want to win that one for Savvy. I know he’s going to be watching that one closely.”

Claude Julien, on the other hand, seems to be pushing the mindset for the B’s to not dwell on last year when trying to get a couple of points, saying that Cooke shouldn’t get any extra attention unless he brings it on himself.

“If he acts in a certain way that deserves retribution,” Julien said, “we’ll deal with it then.”
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- It’s hard not to find the Bruins’ 15 points a little more impressive than the Penguins’ 15 points. Of course, that’s a given when considering that the Bruins have played 11 games to the Penguins’ 15.

- Lucic has scored in five of the Bruins’ road games. Of course, one of them was an empty netter, but his out-of-town numbers are still attention-grabbing. Lucic has yet to score at the Garden this season.

- The Penguins as a team haven’t exactly blown minds statistically, as their numbers in scoring, goals against, and power play seem to agree with the standings, which has them as a .500 team (7-7-1). Pittsburgh’s 2.8 goals per game is 14th in the league, while their 2.6 GAA is 13th in the league. The Penguins are just 21st in penalty killing percentage (13.3), though their penalty kill percentage of 87.5 is sixth in the NHL.

- With Fleury posting just a 1-6 record thus far on the season, between the pipes for the Penguins will be 6-1-1 Brent Johnson, according to the Globe.

- Tim Thomas was first off the ice for the Bruins in their morning skate, so expect him to be in net for the B’s.

Phil Kessel spent his first three years in the league as a member of the Bruins (AP Photo)

Former Bruins fifth overall pick Phil Kessel spoke with the media Thursday as he and the Maple Leafs prepare to take on the B’s at TD Garden. Kessel was traded to the Leafs for a package of draft picks (one of which was spent on Tyler Seguin) and went without a goal in six games against his former club last season.

“I don’t want to stick it to them, I want to obviously play well,” Kessel said. “Last year I had a lot of chances, I just didn’t score. Hopefully I can change it this year and the most important thing is just getting wins.

“They’re a good team over there, so it’s not easy to score against them anyways,” he added. Kessel noted that he isn’t concerned with the reaction given to him by the crowd, who he said can “do whatever they want.”

The Bruins were unable to strike a long-term deal with Kessel prior to the trade, but the way things ended in Boston won’t change the 23-year-old’s view of the city and his experience.

“I loved it here,” Kessel said. “They city was great to me, the fans were great to me. I loved playing here and I had great teammates here. Obviously, it didn’t work out, but that happens.”

Seguin and Kessel met over the summer in Atlantic City for a Bauer promotion they were doing, with Seguin saying Wednesday that the two discussed the cities of Boston and Toronto. Kessel gave Seguin pointers on local dining and other goings on. One topic that was not brought up, as noted by Kessel on Thursday, was that the two will likely be linked to one another for their entire careers because of the trade, which also sent a 2010 second-rounder and a 2011 first-rounder to the B’s.

“No, we never talked about that,” Kessel said. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

If the former 36-goal-scorer truly believes that it isn’t a big deal, he’ll be in for a surprise when Seguin-mania meets Kessel-mania for those on hand at the Garden Thursday night. Kessel has seven goals on the season, good for third-best in the NHL.

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Kessel did say on Thursday that he feels for Marc Savard, who the Bruins have been without all season due to post-concussion syndrom symptoms. Kessel kept up with following Savard’s progress as he initially tried coming back from a March 7 hit from the Penguins’ Matt Cooke, and hopes his former teammate can overcome his current setback.

“I’ve talked to him a little bit, but not lately,” Kessel said. “Not for a while. When [the concussion] happened, I sent him a text or two. Obviously I followed it. Obviously it’s a tough issue and hopefully he can come through.

“I feel terrible for him,” he added. “Obviously, any player that gets hurt like that, it’s not a good thing.”

WILMINGTON — Here’s the video of Bruins coach Claude Julien talking to the media following the Bruins’ practice. He comments on Marco Sturm, who returned to the ice to skate by himself on Tuesday, saying that there is no set return date for the rehabbing winger.

Marco Sturm has kept teammates in high spirits despite being out of the lineup (AP Photo).

WILMINGTON — Marco Sturm hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to health. Major injuries to each of his knees have cost him playing time over the last two seasons, the most recent of which has landed him on long-term injured reserve to open the 2010-11 campaign as he works his way back from a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee.

At face value, the Bruins received some positive news on Tuesday when Sturm did some light skating on his own prior to the team’s practice. Sturm took shots on an empty net by himself, saying that though he felt weak on the ice, he was encouraged by the session. Though Claude Julien said there is no timetable for Sturm’s return and the winger himself admitted it would be “tough” to return by late November, as initially expected, his captain noted that Sturm doesn’t need to be in the lineup for the B’s to feel his positive impact.

An upbeat Sturm could be seen around the Bruins throughout preseason and on the team’s season-opening trip to Europe, and despite not being able to take part in workouts or on-ice sessions with the team, he’s kept a grin on his face and the attitude of a guy who’s getting 20 minutes a night.

“[He's been] absolutely tremendous and supportive,” Zdeno Chara said of Sturm. “You don’t even notice that a guy like that is being affected by injuries. He’s always in a good mood, always helpful to young players, to all of us. It’s just a huge boost for us to see a guy like that always having positive attitude and bringing that energy in the room.”

It’s only natural that a player spending an extended period of time off of the ice and out of the lineup could get the sense of not being quite involved with the team as he normally is. Given the team’s dynamic, however, Sturm said one would be hard-pressed to find that with this Bruins’ club.

“I think especially on this team, it’s never been an issue,” Sturm said. “For the last few years, the guys are always really happy when injured guys are around. Like today, guys were really happy because I was on the ice for the first time. We can tell. It’s a tight group and we’re one team and we just want to be the best.”

It’s no surprise that Chara agrees with Sturm’s assessment, whiling also noting that involvement that Sturm and the other players have made a point to maintain hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“We don’t have to do much,” Chara said. “Those guys are always a big part of our team, no matter what’s going on with them as far as injuries. They’re always included, they’re always a part of the programs that we all have to go through on a daily basis. To have a guy like [Sturm] coming back and see him skating, it’s awesome. It’s been a long road for him, and eventually it’s getting shorter and shorter for him. It’s nice.”

Sturm led the Bruins in goals last year, scoring 22 in 76 games last season. He is set to become a free agent at season’s end. Until then, and especially once he returns to the lineup, the Bruins can expect more positive things, both in production and in morale.

WILMINGTON — Marco Sturm could be spotted doing some light skating and shooting around Ristuccia Arena as he works to return from a torn ACL and MCL suffered during last years’ playoff series. As teammates joined him on the ice, so too did Marc Savard.

Sturm, who led the Bruins in scoring last year, wasn’t getting in the hardest of workouts, doing more of this-and-that than anything substantial, but his return to the ice is undoubtedly a good sign for the Bruins as they look to overcome the injuries of Sturm, Savard, and Johnny Boychuk.

David Krejci was also on the ice as the first handful of players skated out. Krejci missed practice on Monday after getting his wisdom teeth removed. The rest of the team is set to take the ice at 11:00 am. After Sturm left the ice, the small group of Bruins consisted of Krejci, Savard, Brian McGrattan, Adam McQuaid, and Daniel Paille taking shots on Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask.

Here’s video of Sturm skating: