Bruins’ Torey Krug Leaves Preseason Finale With Lower Body Injury

The Boston Bruins suffered a blow to their blue line Saturday evening, but the severity remains unknown.

Defenseman Torey Krug left Boston’s preseason finale loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period, with the ailment being described by the team as a lower body injury. It was Krug’s second preseason game of the campaign, as he was eased back into things during training camp since a fractured ankle ended last postseason prematurely for him.

After the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy could not offer much of an update.

Should Krug’s injury cause him to miss time, the Bruins are in something of a precarious spot on the left side of their defense. Matt Grzelcyk also is contending with a lower body injury, meaning if neither he nor Krug can go in Wednesday’s series opener, Urho Vaakanainen likely would get the nod.

As mentioned above, Cassidy appears comfortable with Vaakanainen, a 19-year-old who has heaps of talent — although it remains to be seen if he’s ready for the NHL game right now.

While Krug may have become part of the third pairing with the Bruins signing John Moore, he has been a staple on the second line in past years. He also is a key part of the Bruins’ power play unit, with Vaakanainen seeing time on the man advantage Saturday upon Krug’s departure.

Last season, the 27-year-old slashed 14-45-59 in 76 regular season games, with his goals matching a career high and his assists and point total setting a career high.