The Boston Bruins were once again hit with the injury bug. When will this team finally play together?
Injury news was coming in hot Monday morning as another Boston Bruins’ player will not be suiting up. The team announced Brad Marchand will not play in Monday night’s game against the Wild. The Bruins have already been without Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, David Krejci, and David Backes at some point this season. How many injuries to key players can the Bruins survive? Let’s look at some currently on the injury report.
Brad Marchand
As stated above, Marchand will not be playing in Monday’s game after he didn’t participate in the team’s morning skate. The Bruins’ twitter account announced the news:
Brad Marchand (upper body) is out tonight, according to Bruce Cassidy. #NHLBruins
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 6, 2017
Marchand took a low hit from John Carlson in Saturday night’s game, but the upper-body designation is a bit curious. The Bruins recalled defenseman Rob O’Gara for tonight’s game:
Cassidy says Rob O'Gara will be in the lineup tonight. Decision on whether Anton Khudobin can backup will be made pregame. #NHLBruins
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 6, 2017
Marchand has been on a tear this season, playing in all 12 games and leading the team with 14 points. The all-star left winger is also the second-most productive Bruin on the power-play, trailing only David Pastrnak. It’s safe to say Marchand will be missed while he remains out, and we’ll see if anyone can step up in his absence.
David Krejci
The Bruins have been without Krejci since October 19th with a back injury. They will continue to be without him for the foreseeable future as the B’s announced they are placing Krejci on injured reserve.
Bruins place David Krejci on injured reserve; recall Zane McIntyre from @AHLBruins on emergency basis: https://t.co/SVQ1XwGrfD
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 6, 2017
Also mentioned in the tweet, Zane McIntyre was recalled from Providence to fill Krejci’s roster spot. Krejci will join a list of Bruins players already on IR including David Backes, Ryan Spooner, Noel Acciari, and Adam McQuaid.
We haven’t seen Krejci a whole lot this season, playing in only 6 games. However, Krejci was pretty productive tallying 6 points with 5 assists. Boston will need to continue finding ways to replace the Czech’s production on the ice.
David Backes
Backes was placed on IR last week after it was determined that he needed colon surgery. Backes tweeted the surgery’s success Friday:
Thank you everyone for the well wishes. I am in great care and can not wait to be back at full strength and on the ice again. @NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/OISMkvdSTq
— David Backes (@dbackes42) November 3, 2017
Until the surgery, Backes was a great replacement for David Krejci on the second line. Now that they’re both on IR, the Bruins will need their rookies to grow up fast.
Other injury notes
Both Noel Acciari and Anton Khudobin were spotted at practice, as reported by the Bruins:
Brad Marchand is not participating in morning skate.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 6, 2017
Anton Khudobin is on the ice, as is Noel Acciari (non contact jersey). #NHLBruins
Acciari was placed on IR on October 9th with a broken finger. Khudobin has been dealing with a lower body injury since October 30th.
No doubt the Boston Bruins have been plagued by injuries throughout this first month of the season. However, the show must go on in Boston for tonight’s game against the Wild.