BOSTON — Bruins forward Loui Eriksson left Saturday night’s game at TD Garden late in the third period after taking a hit along the boards by Los Angeles Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr.
Eriksson did not return to the game, and Bruins head coach Claude Julien didn’t have an update on the veteran forward’s status.
“I don’t know, it just happened at the end and I just came out here,” Julien said. “I think from watching the replays that people are saying it seemed like he got an elbow or a stick in the back of the neck, and I know he had a stiff neck coming off. So I don’t know how he’s doing yet.”
Eriksson suffered two concussions last season, his first as a member of the Bruins. He’s been injury-free this campaign and has been an effective offensive player with 29 points and a quality driver of puck possession with a 53.97 Corsi-for percentage at even strength — best among all B’s forwards who don’t regularly play alongside Patrice Bergeron.
— Bruins rookie forward David Pastrnak’s goalless drought extended to six games, but he made a positive impact defensively and wasn’t a liability in his own end. It was a sign of his improvement playing away from the puck.
“What I saw from him was that he wasn’t a liability,” Julien said. “You know it’s when you’re stuck in your own end, and he’s not getting pucks out, or he’s getting out muscled and stuff like that, and there’s some panic in the game, then you say OK well maybe I’ve got to cut my bench down. But tonight I thought he was solid along the walls and not only that, he was patient, even instead of just chipping it out he made some plays.
“So when you see a player do that, and that’s something that at the beginning of the year was a real issue for him when he went to Providence. I give him so much credit for improving so quickly in that area.”
— Brad Marchand scored twice, including an empty-net goal late in the third period to bring his team-leading goals scored total to 15.
— Patrice Bergeron matched up against the Dwight King-Jeff Carter-Tyler Toffoli line for more than 10 minutes of his even-strength ice time and helped keep it scoreless. It’s the type of defensive performance the Bruins expect of Bergeron on a nightly basis as a top Selke Trophy candidate. Bergeron went 7-for-12 in the faceoff circle against Carter. Boston was 31-for-51 on faceoffs overall.
— Bruins center Chris Kelly won 62 percent of his faceoffs, played excellent defense and scored the game-winning goal when he deflected a Carl Soderberg shot at 14:33 of the third period.
— Boston’s penalty kill went 1-for-1 against the Kings and 41-for-43 overall in January. The unit ranks ninth in the NHL with an 83.1 percent success rate.
Click to read about Tuukka Rask’s stellar January>>
Thumbnail photo via Photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images. GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
