Boston Bruins star ruled out of 4 Nation Face-Off Championship Game with injury

Before Monday night's 2-1 loss to Team Sweden in the final Round Robin game for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, head coach Mike Sullivan said that forward Matthew Tkachuk was going to miss the game with a lower-body injury and defenseman Charlie McAvoy was going to be out with an upper-body injury.

Tkachuk's injury news was not surprising given that Team USA already clinched a spot in the Championship Game on Thursday night against Team Canada and Monday night's game was meaningless in terms of the standings. McAvoy was coming off a very impactful game that included a heavy hit on Connor McDavid, which led to the game-tying goal in the first period.

Late Monday night, Jim McBride of the Boston Globe reported that McAvoy was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital. That left his status in doubt for Thursday night and even the Boston Bruins' regular season when it resumes on Saturday night at home against the Anaheim Ducks. Tuesday morning, the Bruins released a statement on McAvoy.

Bruins rule Charlie McAvoy out of 4 Nations Face-Off Championship Game

The Bruins released a statement on McAvoy's health and said that he was admitted to the hospital to undergo testing from an upper-body injury sustained in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

This is a tough blow to McAvoy, Team USA, and the Bruins. He has started to play his best hockey of the season after coming back from an injury that caused him to miss a good chunk of games in January and February for Boston. What his future holds remains to be seen, but this also may point the front office toward the direction they need to go at the trade deadline on March 7.

As far as Team USA goes, Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk (who left Monday night's game against Sweden with an injury) are expected to play Thursday night, as is Auston Matthews who was scratched right before the game against Sweden.