Lucic/By S. Bradley

LOWELL, Mass. — If Milan Lucic can score 30 goals without getting enough oxygen, imagine what he might be able to do with a surgically repaired nose.

Well, we’ll get to find out in 2011-12, as Lucic underwent successful surgery earlier this summer to correct a problem with his nose that actually started toward the end of the 2009-10 season.

Before the start of his charity softball game at LeLacheur Park tonight, Lucic said he battled the injury all of last season.

“And near the end, it started to become a pain because I started to get sinus infections and stuff like that,” he said. “So that was tough to deal with. So that’s why I decided right after we were done that it was time to get it fixed and we needed to get it fixed.”

“The nose is good, he explained. “Got that fixed, which is great because I wasn’t able to breathe out of my right nostril, so that kind of sucked. But it’s more like a refreshing feeling right now that I’m able to get more oxygen intake throughout my nose.”

Another injury Lucic battled through — a broken toe he suffered during a practice in the Eastern Conference Final — is still healing after Lucic opted not get surgery.

“The X-ray is pretty funny. It’s pretty destroyed,” said Lucic of his big toe. “But there’s a little bit of pain in there, I’m not going to lie. But there’s nothing really you can do to get it fixed. If I went and got surgery, I’d be out for three months and I don’t think that’s really worth it right now.”

So if Lucic can play through a little toe pain, he might get a full season to surpass his career-high goal total of a season ago. And he’ll do it while breathing a lot easier.