WILMINGTON, Mass. — David Pastrnak remained sidelined Tuesday as the Boston Bruins returned to practice at Ristuccia Arena.
Pastrnak, who is dealing with a foot injury, has not played since Halloween. His spot on Boston’s second line was filled first by Alex Khokhlachev and then, for the last two games, by rookie Frank Vatrano.
Khokhlachev failed to make a significant impact in his two games with the big club, but Vatrano has impressed, scoring a goal in his NHL debut and registering eight total shots on goal.
Based on head coach Claude Julien’s post-practice comments, it seems unlikely Pastrnak will play Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche.
“He’s still not ready to go, obviously,” Julien said. “I don’t know. Again, I haven’t heard much from our training staff, but to me, they told me he’s not available. So, it doesn’t look good, I guess, as we speak, because of that. I thought I was expecting him to maybe be back (Tuesday), so we’ll see what comes out of that.”
Pastrnak continues to be evaluated by team doctors, Julien said, and the team has not ruled out the possibility of the 19-year-old winger having a small fracture in his foot.
“That’s happened before,” the coach said. “We always fear those things when guys get hit in the foot. And we had a couple of guys last game get hit in the foot, as well. So, there’s always that fear. Sometimes there’s some damage in there that’s not dangerous; you’ve just got to put up with the pain. And some other ones, you have to be careful with. Those are the things that you deal with when you have foot injuries.”
The Bruins also practiced Tuesday without defenseman Torey Krug, who was given the day off for maintenance.
Boston’s lines from Sunday’s win over the New York Islanders remained largely intact, with Matt Beleskey skating on the first line with Patrice Bergeron and Brett Connolly, and Brad Marchand, Ryan Spooner and Jimmy Hayes comprising the third unit.
Zac Rinaldo, Joonas Kemppainen and Zac Rinaldo formed the fourth line after Max Talbot was assigned to Providence on Monday.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
