Bruins' depth to be tested after more devastating injury news surrounding key players

The Boston Bruins will enter action on Monday night in first place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and two ahead of the Montreal Canadiens.

Monday night will begin a difficult stretch for the Black and Gold with a home game against the Carolina Hurricanes, followed by a four-game road trip out west to California for three games and a stop on Long Island against the New York Islanders.

It's going to be tough for Boston to stay afloat in the standings as injuries are piling up. They are already down center Elias Lindholm, who is on injured reserve, and on Monday, he had two other teammates join him.

Bruins place two players on injured reserve

Late in the third period of Saturday night's 3-2 win over the Canadiens, Viktor Arvidsson left with a lower-body injury. After the game, head coach Marco Sturm said that he might be out a while. That is indeed the case, as he was placed on injured reserve. Also joining him is center Casey Mittlestadt, who has been out the last couple of games. They also shifted defenseman Jordan Harris to long-term injured reserve, according to team reporter Belle Fraser.

In what wasn't a surprising move, Boston called up forwards Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte from the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) after they were not in Sunday's lineup against Laval. Arvidsson was listed as week-to-week by Sturm after practice, and there is no timetable for a return for defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who was hit in the face by a deflected shot in the second period against Montreal. Surgery is an option, according to Sturm. With Boston heading west after Monday night's game, expect more moves coming.

If there was some good injury news, it was that Lindholm skated on Monday morning, according to NESN reporter Adam Pellerin.