To say that the Boston Bruins are entering a crucial three-game stretch before the 4 Nations Faceoff break would be an understatement. They begin a stretch of three games in five days against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at the TD Garden and it appears that they’ll be getting a forward back. That’s where we’ll begin this edition of Boston Bruins News.
Mark Kastelic available vs. Wild
Since being acquired from the Ottawa Senators last June as part of the Linus Ullmark trade, Mark Kastelic has been a pleasant surprise as a fourth-line forward. He has been a spark missing from the lineup with an injury, but it appears that he may be returning against Minnesota.
After practice on Monday morning at Warrior Ice Arena, interim coach Joe Sacco said that the rugged forward is available to play against the Wild. He was signed to a contract extension earlier this season and it’s been a couple of weeks since he took a shot to the head against the Tampa Bay Lightning last month. His addition to the lineup with be a welcomed one.
Hampus Lindholm still not ready
Back in November, the Bruins lost a key part of their defense against the St. Louis Blues when Hampus Lindholm suffered a lower-body injury after blocking a shot on the penalty kill. It’s been two and a half months since the injury the last couple of weeks, he’s been working out on the ice, getting fan's hopes up that a return could be around the corner. That’s not the case.
According to Sacco, Lindholm is not expected back before the 4 Nations break that begins after Saturday’s home game against the Vegas Golden Knights. By the time he’s ready to return, it could be a case of too little too late in terms of the Black and Gold’s playoff chances.
Bruins changing up power-play look?
According to Scott McLaughlin of WEEI, the Bruins are tweaking the look of their power play at practice. On the first unit of Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm, and Pavel Zacha, Marchand was taking some in the bumper rather than being on the wall.
On the second unit that included Mason Lohrei, Morgan Geekie, Matthew Poitras, Charlie Coyle, and Justin Brazeau, Oliver Wahlstrom was cycling in, which tells you how desperate the coaching staff was to get anything from either unit. The first unit did find the back of the net twice on Saturday against the New York Rangers in a 6-3 victory.