Matthew Poitras left Monday night’s win over the Vegas Golden Knights with a broken nose, but the Bruins got a encouraging sign out of Wednesday’s practice that could keep him in the mix for Thursday in Pittsburgh.
The injury happened midway through the game when Poitras was skating through center ice chasing the puck and took an elbow to the face from Braeden Bowman. He dropped immediately, stayed down as the whistles blew and was bleeding from his nose before heading to the locker room. After a review, officials assessed Bowman a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
Poitras did make it back to the bench later in the second period with a bubble over his face, though he never returned for another shift. Boston still managed to finish off a 3-2 shootout win, with Morgan Geekie scoring a power-play goal as the Bruins moved to 11-4-1.
The next day brought a more optimistic update. Poitras missed Tuesday’s practice because of a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday, but he was back on the ice at Warrior Ice Arena and worked as the extra forward on the line rushes, according to Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com. Sean Kuraly handled the fourth-line center spot between Mark Kastelic and Tanner Jeannot.
After practice, Marco Sturm said the team will keep evaluating Poitras before making any call on his status for Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“We’ll see,” said Sturm. “I mean, he stayed out there for the whole practice, so I guess it’s a good thing. And [we’ll] see how it is tomorrow and go from there.”
Poitras also confirmed to the media that he had a broken nose, which fits the way the play unfolded.
For now, the Bruins sound prepared to be cautious. A decision may not come until after the morning skate in Pittsburgh, and Poitras could easily end up a game-time call. With Kuraly available, Boston has the option to wait if there’s any doubt about Poitras’ recovery.
That’s a notable development for a player who has been one of the season’s bright spots. In 12 games after opening the year on injured reserve, Poitras has four goals and three assists while joining the youth wave that also includes Fraser Minten and James Hagens.
He’s averaging 9:33 of ice time per night and has won 58% of his faceoffs. Whether he’s in the lineup against the Penguins is still up in the air, but Wednesday’s skate at least gave the Bruins something to work with.
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