BOSTON — It was a scary sight for the Bruins on Wednesday night when 2008 first-round pick Joe Colborne left the ice bleeding heavily from his face, but the young forward's injuries don't appear to be as serious as initially feared.
Colborne was injured midway through the third period of the first of two rookie games against the New York Islanders at the Garden on Wednesday night. Colborne appeared to get caught in the face with teammate Lane MacDermid's stick when MacDermid lost control after New York's Justin DiBenedetto took a run at him. DiBenedetto was given a five-minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct on the play.
Colborne will be held out of Thursday's night rematch as a precaution, but the injuries shouldn't sideline him long.
"I think it's probably a little more positive than what it looked last night," said Providence coach Rob Murray after the rookies' morning skate on Thursday. "He's gone to the hospital this morning for some more tests, but I think at first they thought he broke his nose. He might not have broke his nose. I'm not positive on that one.
"But overall, it's looking better than what it looked like last night," added Murray. "So I don't think it's as bad as everyone thought."
Colborne even petitioned the coaching staff to play in Thursday's game.
"He wanted to play tonight after the game last night," said Murray. "He was lucid enough to kind of go, 'I'm OK to go' type of thing. It looked bad on the ice last night, but he'll be OK."
Still, Murray confirmed that Colborne will sit out Thursday's contest. "Yes, he won't play tonight," said Murray.
