Injuries are piling up for the Boston Bruins, but they are continuing to move on shorthanded throughout the lineup. Aside from Jordan Harris and Charlie McAvoy on defense, the injuries are piling up with the forwards.
On Monday, head coach Marco Sturm said that David Pastrnak is not going to make the trip to Detroit for Tuesday night's game against the Red Wings, and hopefully, he can return later this week. As for Viktor Arvidsson, injured in the same game as McAvoy against the Montreal Canadiens, he is going to travel and potentially play after missing a couple of weeks.
"Just have to confirm it today after practice," Sturm said. "But if (Arvidsson) felt good today at practice, he should be in (Tuesday)."
Arvidsson skated on the second line in practice on Monday with Casey Mittlestadt and Pavel Zacha. There were signs the Black and Gold were getting healthy when the club announced they were sending Georgii Merkulov back to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). We'll see if Arvidsson makes it into the lineup, which would be a welcome addition.
Former Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo seeking another opinion
Former Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo has been out of the Toronto Maple Leafs' lineup, injured, and was trying to work his way back into the lineup. That won't be the case anytime soon, as head coach Craig Berube said he was going back to Toronto from their current road trip to seek another opinion after suffering a setback.
As for the healthy Maple Leafs, they are currently tied at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with the Florida Panthers after the Buffalo Sabres beat the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night. The Panthers and Leafs will meet on Tuesday night in South Florida. Former Bruins captain Brad Marchand had a message for anyone thinking that they might be in trouble in early December and the playoff race.
"If people are thinking they're out of a playoff spot for the season, they got to find a new job,'' said Marchand. With the media attention & the fan support, they have things get blown way out of proportion ... They're still a good contending team."
Blues suffer injury setback
The Bruins will play the St. Louis Blues, and former Bruins coach Jim Montgomery will be in Boston on Thursday night for the first of two games in less than a week. They will do shorthanded after they placed a couple of players on injured reserve.
Jimmy Snuggerud will have surgery on his wrist and be placed on injured reserve. He had five goals and 11 points this season in 26 games. St. Louis will also be missing Alexey Toropchenko, who will be out week-to-week after he sustained scalding burns to his legs in a home accident.