Boston Bruins: Chris Wagner’s injury opens fourth line options
With Chris Wagner getting injured, the Boston Bruins will need to re-shuffle their fourth line trio ever so slightly ahead of Game 4 of their Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Chris Wagner went down injured during the Boston Bruins’ 2-1 victory in Game 3; the injury occurring as he laid it on the line, blocking a Justin Faulk shot, as the team facing a barrage of shots late on from a desperate Hurricanes side.
He has returned to Boston for testing on an arm injury, having been seen leaving the rink wearing a sling, per The Boston Herald.
The expectation is that Noel Acciari, himself recently recovered from injury, will slot straight into Wagner’s place. He’ll be hoping to create just as much of an impression, coming off a game that was possibly the best from any fourth line this post-season.
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Chris Wagner netted the Boston Bruins’ opening goal and the line buzzed all night line, getting in deep on the fore-check, creating turnovers and bringing huge energy to ensure the Bruins took the momentum after a very slow and penalty-ridden start.
Acciari isn’t the only option available to Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy as Karson Kuhlman has also seen post-season action this year, tallying an assist in his four games versus the Toronto Maple Leafs and another in his one game in the Columbus Blue Jackets series.
The 23 year old didn’t exactly go too wrong in his previous outings, but Noel Acciari likely factors in due to being four years Karson’s senior and having a slightly heavier build, as well as that little bit more playoff experience.
If the game is on the line for the Boston Bruins, especially given that a win tonight will mean a place in the Stanley Cup Final and a nice extended rest for their battle-weary bodies, you’d probably give more experienced guy the nod, nine times out of ten.
With any luck, there’s no real upset to the chemistry on the fourth line between Wagner, Joakim Nordstrom and his highly underated center, Sean Kuraly. Given his playing style and the fact he has already played alongside them prior to injury this post-season, Acciari should be an almost like-for-like replacement player.
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If that is the case and the difference isn’t noticed, there’s every chance we could see another night of the fourth line crashing, bashing and generally upsetting the flow of the Carolina Hurricanes. If that can happen, we’ll be needing our brooms as the Boston Bruins could well be completing a sweep!