Bruins Dougie Hamilton cleared for action; Soderberg too

In the wake of a rash of injuries along their blue line, the Boston Bruins have gotten some encouraging news in the past couple of days.

On Tuesday, Zdeno Chara returned to the lineup after a one game hiatus and even survived a puck to the facefor his troubles, and on Wednesday the club announced that young Dougie Hamilton has been cleared by team physicians to resume playing after missing over three weeks with a leg injury.

Claude Julien said Carl Soderberg/Dougie Hamilton should be in lineup tomorrow after being given "full go" from medical staff #BruinsTalk
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) January 1, 2014

Also cleared to return is centerman Carl Soderberg, who was speculated to have suffered a concussion, though he denies the report - regardless, the 28-year-old Swede was skating alongside explosive rookies Ryan Spooner and Matt Fraser on the Bruins' third line in practice on Wednesday.

Both players have been productive this season, Soderberg touting 19 points in 32 games while Hamilton is growing into a complete defenseman in his second year, scoring three goals and helping on four others, sporting a plus-nine rating while eating up just over 19 minutes per game.