Before playing the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night on the road, Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm met with the media and didn't really have an injury update on forward Viktor Arvidsson or defenseman Jonathan Aspirot. More should be known when they get back to Boston.
Sturm did say that Mikey Eyssimont, who has been a healthy scratch, was rejoining the lineup in for Arvidsson. Boston's first-year coach was hoping he was going to bounce back the way other forwards had earlier this year.
“Nobody likes when you get scratched. It sounds like scratch is a bad thing, but for me, sometimes it’s a good thing. You can see it on the guys I had scratched this season – sometimes it’s good to watch and get motivated again. He was not bad, we just needed a little bit more out of him,” Sturm said. “Hopefully, he is going to come back the right way because he is a good hockey player.”
In the Bruins 6-2 loss, Eyssimont had an assist and three shots on the net in 12:21 in time on ice.
Wild's Bill Guerin takes subtle shot at Florida
Sometimes it's just best to let sleeping giants lie. Wild GM Bill Guerin was discussing the blockbuster trade that acquired Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks and, well, said the following.
"Look, I love Minnesota. Our players love Minnesota. This is a great place to play," Guerin said. "No matter what, whether you have good weather and no taxes, whatever. The hockey has to be good. You can live in the sun, you can live in these great places, or make a little more money, but if the hockey's not good, you won't be happy."
Well now. Minnesota will host the Panthers on Jan. 24 and then make their annual stop in South Florida on March 26. If we know anything, Brad Marchand and Florida will be taking receipts over the next month-plus and again after the Olympic Break.
Around the NHL
- The Bruins are not going to catch any breaks as far as facing teams that have just undergone some huge trades, but they did miss Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck by two days. Eric Comrie got the net for the Jets in Boston's 6-3 win on Thursday night. On Saturday night against the Washington Capitals, Hellebuyck was back between the pipes and made 24 saves in Winnipeg's 5-1 victory after coming back from a knee injury.
- Before their 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon on the road, the Canucks announced that Elias Pettersson was being placed on injured reserve, which allowed Marco Rossi to be activated following the Friday night trade. Vancouver is at the TD Garden for their only trip this season. Pettersson has eight goals for 14 assists for the Canucks this season.
- Utah visits Boston on Tuesday night to kick off the pre-Christmas homestand, and they will do without Logan Cooley, who the Mammoth announced will be out for eight weeks with a lower-body injury. He had a goal in Utah's 3-2 win back in October at home.