Boston Bruins: Torey Krug Out 2-3 Weeks
Oct 25, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug (47) skates out with the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
After a night where the Boston Bruins blew a rare two goal lead in the third period, the last thing the team needed to hear was more bad news concerning their already depleted blue line. Unfortunately, the Bruins will now move forward without the services of puck moving defenseman Torey Krug for the next 2-3 weeks as a result of a broken finger.
With the loss of Krug, the Bruins are now down half of their starting defensive core and left with parts from Providence to pick up the pieces in an attempt to put together a patchwork defense while Miller, Chara, and now Krug recover from their injuries. Last night’s third period saw it’s fair share of defensive lapses in coverage as the Wild stormed back to secure a victory.
The loss of Krug might end up actually costing the Bruins more on the offensive side of things due to Krug’s active involvement on the power play as well as his abilities to create plays in the offensive zone. Krug has already posted six points in eleven games for the Bruins and is the team’s top scoring defensemen.
In response to this move, the Bruins have already made the call down to Providence to have defensemen Joe Morrow and David Warsofsky come up and join the team in preparation for Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Morrow was called up after the injury sustained to Zdeno Chara only to be sent back down a few days later.
In Warsofsky, the Bruins have a player who in terms of size and statue bares strong resemblance to that of Krug. However, in the first month of the season down in Providence he has yet to post a point and is a minus 3. It will be asking a lot to expect Warsofsky to fill the void left behind by Krug.
Claude Julien may be forced to completely change his game plan for the next couple of weeks while he incorporates a lot of unexperienced and young pieces into this defensive corps. It seems time to tighten up coverage on the defensive side in an attempt to lessen the chances for turnovers and having some of those defensemen caught out of position.
It seems like a redundant observation, but the Bruins have not faced adversity in more than a few years. The idea of being one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference at the end of the year might be fading but ultimately what matters is this team weathering the storm and putting themselves in position to make a run in the second half of the season.