BOSTON — The Boston Bruins may very well be forced to shuffle up their top top-six again.
In the opening minutes of Tuesday’s tilt with the Carolina Hurricanes, winger Marcus Johansson was barreled into the boards in the Bruins’ offensive zone by Micheal Ferland.
Johansson spent a pretty good chunk of time down on the ice before skating off under his own power and heading back to the room. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game with an upper-body injury.
After the game, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy gave reason to be optimistic, but could not provide a timeline for the winger’s injury.
“I believe he went to the hospital, and we’ll get an update tomorrow,” Cassidy said. “It looks encouraging, but I don’t want to speak out of turn. I think when all the tests are done, we’ll have a better answer.”
In his short time with the B’s, Johansson has proven already that he could be a valuable piece, settling in nicely alongside scorching hot David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. Johansson notched an assist in his first game with the Bruins. He was injured on the second shift of his third game in the Black and Gold.
Should the Bruins be without Johansson going forward, Boston will once again have to get creative in their top six. Peter Cehlarik and David Backes both spent time on Krejci’s flank opposite DeBrusk after the 28-year-old went down.
With David Pastrnak still working his way back to game action, Johansson’s injury leaves the Bruins a little shorter on top-six weapons then they’d like to be.
