When Boston Bruins center Elias Lindholm went down with an injury on Oct. 30 after taking a hit from Jordan Greenway of the Buffalo Sabres, it didn't look good. He had to be helped off the ice and was later placed on injured reserve.
Before the Bruins departed for California for their four-game road trip, it was announced that Lindholm would be traveling with the team. If he was traveling, it was likely that he was going to play at some point. On Saturday, he practiced in full with his teammates, but head coach Marco Sturm didn't say whether or not he would play against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.
“Doesn’t mean anything yet. We’ll see, still going day by day,” Sturm said of Lindholm’s eventual return. “See how he feels today, see how he feels tomorrow, and kind of go from there.”
On Sunday afternoon, it was announced that Lindholm was being activated off of injured reserve, while defenseman Charlie McAvoy was going on it.
Bruins getting Elias Lindholm back is big news
The Bruins more than held their head above water without Lindholm while he was out injured. They went from the bottom of the standings up to the top and are locked in a wild log jam in the Eastern Conference.
In Lindholm's absence, Marat Khusnutdinov centered the top line for Sturm before Pavel Zacha was moved up there against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night. Also joining with David Pastrnak was Matej Blümel. What the lines will look like when Lindholm comes back remains to be seen.
After playing the Sharks, the Bruins will head to Long Island and play the New York Islanders on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Lindholm playing in San Jose would be perfect timing for him to have a couple of days off before playing the Islanders.