The Boston Bruins looked to be getting healthier, until Sunday happened.
Torey Krug left Sunday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden with an upper-body injury. Head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have too much of an update after the game, saying he’ll have a “better idea” come Monday.
The defenseman was not on the ice for practice and although he didn’t go into specifics about Krug’s injury, Cassidy provided an update that was more positive than negative.
“He’s upper-body, ruled out (Tuesday),” he said, per the team. “We’ll re-evaluate as the week goes on. We’re not taking him out of the equation this weekend. He was here (Monday). But, again, until I get more, I got nothing for you.”
Cassidy also spoke about injuries to his other players, including Jake DeBrusk (lower-body), David Backes (upper-body) and Kevan Miller (knee).
Boston has been without DeBrusk since its Nov. 8 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The second-line winger played through his injury against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 5.
“Jake’s kind of the same, it’s just lower-body,” Cassidy said. “We didn’t know at first how long and right now it’s stretching out a little.”
The head coach noted David Backes (upper-body) is “feeling better,” but has “nothing new” on his recovery. Cassidy noted it’s “hard to speculate” on Backes’ return until he’s cleared to practice.
As for Miller, he practiced in a regular jersey Monday morning. The defenseman had been wearing a non-contact jersey since re-joining his team. He won’t play Tuesday against the Florida Panthers, but Cassidy said he’s “getting closer” to game action.
“Next week, let’s see how he gets through the practices. … He’s not getting enough reps to say automatically next week,” Cassidy told reporters. “Some of it will determine how much he rated with the group. So our practice schedule is actually hurting his timeline a little bit. But that’s fine. We got a lot of games. We’re not rushing him.”
#NHLBruins coach Bruce Cassidy talks about the recall of Urho Vaakanainen and provides the latest updates on injuries to Torey Krug, Jake DeBrusk, David Backes, and Kevan Miller: pic.twitter.com/eAgCFenepf
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 11, 2019
The Bruins are back in action Tuesday night when they welcome old friend Noel Acciari and the rest of the Panthers squad to TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
