Just when you think things can't get any worse for the Boston Bruins in terms of injuries, think again. Just five shifts into Tuesday night's 5-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, defenseman Michael Callahan was injured and did not return after just 2:51 in time on ice. Talk about stretching the defensive depth in the organization; that is not very deep.
“Yeah, I don’t know yet," Sturm said after Tuesday's game. "We have to see [on Wednesday]. But, again, I don’t think he will be ready for the next few days here."
It'll be interesting to see where Boston goes for their next game against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at the TD Garden. The Providence Bruins just returned from their Canadian road trip, and someone will likely be called up. Just who remains to be seen.
Marco Sturm explains pulling Jeremy Swayman
Early in the third period after allowing a fifth goal to the Red Wings on Tuesday night, Sturm decided to pull Jermey Swayman in favor of Joonas Korpisalo down 5-2. Boston closed the gap to 5-4 with two goals, but couldn't tie the game. Why did Sturm pull Swayman after the great run he had been on?
“It almost wasn’t fair to [Swayman] because of the way the team played in front of him,” Sturm said. “Maybe he could have saved one or two, but he’s been so good for us that I wanted to get Joonas in there.”
Yes, there was a goal or two that Swayman would like to have back, and maybe a save here or a save there, and the outcome is different. All signs point to Korpisalo back between the pipes against St. Louis on Thursday night, which is a rather big game against a struggling Western Conference foe.
Riley Tufte returned to Providence
The Bruins returned forward Riley Tufte to the P-Bruins in the American Hockey League in a move that was likely made to free up a roster spot to bring up a defenseman for St. Louis and beyond after Callahan's injury.
David Pastrnak injury
One takeaway from Sturm on Tuesday is that there is no timeframe for David Pastrnak to return from his injury. The longer it takes, the more concerned fans should be.
“He’s not skating this week,” said Sturm, “so I’m not expecting him to play this week.”
The longer Pastrnak is out, the tougher it is going to be for the Bruins to hang around in an Eastern Conference playoff spot. They are going to need to find secondary scoring as well as play Sturm's system better. An injured reserve stint is still not out of the question.