With the blue line already beaten down, the Boston Bruins suffered another blow Saturday night.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy announced Sunday morning ahead of Boston’s tilt with the Vegas Golden Knights that Brandon Carlo would be questionable with an upper-body injury.
“Carlo has an upper-body, so he’s questionable, probably won’t play,” Cassidy said, via Bruins.com. “He got hit the latter part of the (win over the Toronto Maple Leafs). He played through most of it. Came in this morning not doing great.”
Jeremy Lauzon was an emergency call-up in Carlo’s place, meaning the B’s will be dressing five left-shot defensemen Sunday.
Carlo had been playing on the top pairing alongside Zdeno Chara with Charlie McAvoy dealing with a concussion. The team had been mum on McAvoy’s condition for a while before declaring to the media that it was a concussion this past week, but it appears he and Urho Vaakanainen, who also is suffering from a concussion, are making encouraging progress.
“They’re both skating as well,” Cassidy said. “Good news on that front. Protocol will dictate when they get back into live practices. Tuesday would be great for both of them because we don’t’ have a lot after that. We’re heading out…Be good to get them back in the mix when they’re ready. They are possibilities as well. We’ve been talking about some of those guys for a while.”
The last injured defenseman is third-pairing right-shot Kevan Miller, who sustained a hand injury on Oct. 18 and hasn’t played since. But things are promising on his end as well ahead of Boston’s four-game road trip that will begin Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
“He is skating on his own, now with his stick,” Cassidy said. “That’s the next part of it. I think four weeks will be this Thursday…If he can practice with a stick in his hand fully, then it’s quite possible he’ll be with us (on the road trip). Now because we’re staying out west before, we go to Detroit, he may join us mid trip as well. He is potentially available I would say closer to the end of the trip. I don’t think he’ll play next week. We can update you on that as the week goes. Detroit could be a possibility. And then it’s home Pittsburgh, and then Toronto, Montreal again. I would suspect somewhere in that window, those four games he’d be available.”
The Bruins mostly have been fine enough without the slew of defenseman, and Sunday’s game probably will be the biggest test so far. But things appear to be trending upward for most everyone, which should give Cassidy and Co. some hope going forward.
