Injuries have been piling up for the Boston Bruins lately, and they’ve had to do some lineup juggling just to stay afloat. Over the past couple of weeks, the team has taken some tough hits-both literally and figuratively-starting with a scary moment involving Charlie McAvoy.
The Bruins’ top defenseman took a deflected puck to the face, an injury that required surgery and landed him on injured reserve. That alone would shake up any blue line, but the hits didn’t stop there.
During a physical road matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, forward Viktor Arvidsson suffered a lower-body injury late in the game. Like McAvoy, Arvidsson was placed on IR and missed the Bruins’ four-game swing out West. He also sat out both home games following Thanksgiving, including contests against the Rangers and Red Wings.
To help fill the gaps, Boston called up Georgii Merkulov from Providence. The young forward got a look against the Rangers but was scratched for the Red Wings game.
By Sunday, he was sent back down to the AHL. That move raised some eyebrows, but now we know why.
On Monday, the Bruins returned to practice at Warrior Ice Arena after a day off, and there was a welcome sight: Arvidsson was back on the ice. Not just skating, either-he slotted in on the second line alongside Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt. Zacha, for his part, also missed the Rangers game, so seeing both players back in the mix is a promising sign.
After practice, head coach Marco Sturm confirmed the good news-Arvidsson is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday night in Detroit, where the Bruins will close out a home-and-home set against the Red Wings. That’s a much-needed boost for a team that’s been patching holes all over the lineup.
But while Arvidsson’s return is encouraging, the update on David Pastrnak wasn’t quite as uplifting. Sturm labeled Pastrnak as “day-to-day,” but he didn’t practice Monday and won’t travel with the team to Detroit.
For a player of Pastrnak’s caliber-someone who drives the offense and is constantly on the scoresheet-that’s a tough pill to swallow. And while “day-to-day” sounds optimistic, the fact that he hasn’t skated with the team yet suggests he’s not quite ready to return.
The Bruins are deep in the fight for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference, and losing a key piece like Pastrnak for any extended stretch could have ripple effects. With another big game looming Thursday at home against the St. Louis Blues, Boston will be hoping for better news on their superstar winger.
For now, they’ll take the win of getting Arvidsson back. But in a stretch of the season where every point matters, they’ll need all hands on deck sooner rather than later.