Just when things were going really well for the Boston Bruins, injuries have taken their toll once again. They avoided a big one last Saturday night when defenseman Nikita Zadorov left in the second period against the Montreal Canadiens, which didn't look good. He returned, to everyone's surprise, for the third period to finish out the game. He missed the Black and Gold's game on Monday night against the New York Rangers, but has been in the lineup the last two nights.
Just when it seems a mess has been avoided, another one pops up. That was the case in Boston's last two home games. In Tuesday night's 3-2 overtime win over the Nashville Predators, they lost center Elias Lindholm near the end of the second period with what they deemed an upper-body injury. He missed Thursday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers. As if it could get worse, it did against the Flyers.
In the second period, center Pavel Zacha exited the game and did not return with an upper-body injury. After the game, head coach Marco Sturm said he would have updates on Friday morning, and he did.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm gives injury updates on Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm
The Bruins held an optional skate on Friday after Thursday night's 6-3 win over the Flyers. After that skate, Sturm gave an update on his top centers, and it was a mixed bag of results. Sturm said both players were not traveling to Tampa Bay for Sunday night's Stadium Series Game against the Lightning. Both players will receive more testing, but Sturm didn't believe that either would be in jeopardy of missing the Olympics next month.
After playing Tampa Bay on Sunday night, they will close out their schedule before the Olympic Break against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise on Wednesday night. It feels like neither player will be ready for that game. We'll see how the next few days end up playing out.