Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins received some good news on the defensive front on Tuesday as Joe Morrow returned to practice after being placed on the injured reserve. Morrow missed the Bruins successful road trip which involved wins over the Colorado Avalanche and the Arizona Coyotes, ultimately giving the Bruins a 2-3 win-loss record on the season. Morrow wasn’t injured, so to speak, but the severeness of his flu was enough to require an IR spell as well as the call-up of Tommy Cross.
Puck Prose
As of right now, Morrow is still on the injured reserve and it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to expect Cross to get at least one more game in the big league before packing his bags and being sent back to Providence to rejoin his AHL teammates. Cross played very solidly in relief of Morrow in limited minutes over his first two NHL games. Cross logged 13:50 of ice time against the Colorado Avalanche and clearly earned the trust of head coach Claude Julien, as he played in the Bruins next game against the Arizona Coyotes, logging 14:41 of ice time and logging his first NHL point in the form of an assist on Brad Marchand‘s short handed goal. He should be in line for another call-up in the future if another Bruins’ defender goes down with injury, but Morrow should slide right back into the lineup when he’s healthy.
Morrow said he lost about 10 pounds while he was sick. Spent a lot of time fatigued; has to now build back his strength
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 20, 2015
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Morrow’s illness was bad enough to affect him physically to the point where he lost roughly ten pounds. Hopefully Morrow can recover from the severe weight loss quickly and rebuild his energy for when the Bruins call his name to return to the lineup. Morrow has been solid in his three games so far for the Bruins, not excelling at any point of the game, but providing reliability and consistency to a Bruins defensive group that certainly needs all the help it can get. Morrow has shown off a booming slap shot on a few occasions throughout his three games this season, however, and that coupled with his puck moving ability could help the Bruins in the long-run.
The Bruins are back in action against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night as they look to earn their first home win of the season!
Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports