The Boston Bruins are missing two pieces of their puzzle as they continue their five game road trip. Adam McQuaid and David Krejci have been sidelined with injuries. McQuaid has been out for the last three games with an apparent concussion after he was hit from behind by Zach Sill (who received a suspension for the hit) three games ago. Krejci has missed the last six games since taking an undisclosed upper body injury when he collided with Bobby Ryan back on December 27th.
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At the moment, it looks like neither play will be traveling with the team. It also looks like these injuries could keep both players off the ice for a decent amount of time.
“I check in quickly,” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien of his injured players. “They’re still home. They’re not coming on this road trip so far, so that’s all I need to know at this point. You hope, those guys . . . you hope they’re getting better, but in McQuaid’s case it was one of those hits from behind. Who knows what is going to happen with him?
“I’d suspect David is healing as predicted from week-to-week, and that he is getting better.”
While the Boston Bruins haven’t been terrible without Krejci, (So far, the Bruins have picked up three out of six points on the road trip.) their production has been pretty sparse. The Black and Gold have only been able to put up nine goals in their five games during the month of January since the loss of their top-line Czech forward. While Ryan Spooner has done an adequate job filling in on the top six, he’s no David Krejci.
The loss of Adam McQuaid in some ways is more severe. Granted, McQuaid is a bottom pair defenseman. But he provides a lot more than just being a good blueliner. He was a player who would stand up for his team, and was utterly fearless when engaging other players. Now, the Bruins have no choice but to fill his spot with his more inexperienced players (like Joe Morrow) or give even more time to players who aren’t currently cutting it (like Kevan Miller).
Hopefully, the Bruins will get back both of their players soon. The Bruins are still holding onto a playoff spot, but they’ll need all four points if they want to keep it.