BOSTON -- Sidney Crosby says he didn't think he could shoot the puck hard enough to hurt someone.

Gary Roberts can testify to the contrary.

Roberts took a Crosby shot on the right knee during the second period of the Penguins' 4-3 victory in Washington Tuesday and has a bone bruise and severe swelling to prove it.

Because of his injuries, Roberts did not go on the ice for the Penguins' practice at Conte Forum on the campus of Boston College and has been all but officially ruled out of their game against Boston at 7:08 tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden.

"Obviously, if I can't skate, I can't play," he said.

Ronald Petrovicky appears to be the front-runner to take Roberts' spot in the lineup, although assistant coach Andre Savard said Nils Ekman also is a possibility.

The Penguins were on a power play with Roberts in his customary spot near the opposing team's net when Crosby's shot hit him.

"You don't like to hurt your own player," Crosby said. "But he's in that area, and I guess sometimes that's what happens."

Savard suggested that Roberts could play when the Penguins visit Toronto Saturday, although it's safe to assume no one will be looking to rush him back into the lineup.

"I don't want to risk getting hit there or having further damage," Roberts said. "I have to make sure it's close to 100 percent before I play, and hope that's only a couple of days away."

Extra motivation

The Penguins' primary incentive for wanting to win tonight -- to improve their standing in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference playoff races -- is obvious, but beating the Bruins would accomplish something else: It would give them 100 points for the fourth time.

While they can't match the team record of 119 set by the group that won the Presidents' Trophy in 1992-93, they still could surpass the total of 101 earned the following season or the 102 picked up by the 1995-96 squad that reached the Eastern Conference final.

Fond memories

Practice was a homecoming of sorts for defensemen Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi, both of whom played at Boston College.

"There certainly are fond memories of the good times, and all the good teams we had," Scuderi said.

The best, he said, probably came in the wake of the Golden Eagles' national championship in 2001.

"We all had to get up the next morning and take a team picture," he said. "Everyone wasn't exactly in the best [condition], to put it lightly. It was kind of funny, trying to get that picture together."

Aftershocks

Boston's 5-0 loss at Mellon Arena Sunday was one of the low points of the Bruins' season, a point coach Dave Lewis reinforced with a 45-minute workout that included lots of skating -- and no pucks -- in Ottawa the next day.

"The effort has not been there consistently," he told The Boston Globe. "It's my job to get that out of them. One way or another, they're going to work."

The Bruins' punishment did not end when they left the ice. After the workout, Lewis and his assistants returned to the team hotel, while the team stayed behind at Ottawa's practice rink to sit through the tape of the loss to the Penguins.

"They can figure it out on their own," Lewis told The Boston Herald. "And that's what I want. I want them and the leadership group to watch and evaluate. They've heard us critique video. Now it's time for the group to do it because they're the ones who play, and one thing about video, you can't hide."

The next night, the Bruins had no reason to hide because they stunned the Senators -- who had lost just once in regulation during their previous 21 games -- at Scotiabank Place, 3-2, allowing the Penguins to pull even with Ottawa for fourth place in the East.

Slap shots

The Penguins didn't just clinch a playoff berth Tuesday. Their victory in Washington, combined with various other results involving Eastern teams, assured they will finish no lower than fifth in the conference. ... Bruins forward Chuck Kobasew sat out the Ottawa game because of post-concussion syndrome, the result of a hit by Penguins center Evgeni Malkin in the first period Sunday. He is not expected to play tonight.