Already down a defenseman in John Moore, the Bruins suffered a scare with another blueliner Thursday night.
Shortly into the second period of Boston’s 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild, Kevan Miller engaged in a puck battle with Wild forward Jordan Greenway. Both skaters were dashing with speed deep into Minnesota’s attacking zone when they banged bodies, sending Miller to the ice. The defenseman slid for a moment and crashed hard into the end boards, staying laid out on the ice for a few moments.
Play stopped and Miller slowly got up, with team medical staff rushing out to help him off the ice. He returned to the bench and skated around later in the period, but did not play in the third.
But in a season of tough breaks for Miller, it appears he finally caught a good one.
“He’s fine, he had a lower-body (injury). Tried to come back,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley on “Bruins Overtime Live.” “We just thought it’d be better — he’s missed some time (already this season) — to let it sort of sit tonight and get him back in there Saturday, that’s the plan. Hopefully he’s fine tomorrow and ready to go Saturday, nothing serious. He’s missed so much time, that would’ve been a tough one for him and the group, but we think he’s going to be OK.”
The defenseman has missed extended time twice this season due to injury. Thursday was just his third game back from the upper-body injury he suffered Feb. 23, but at the moment, things look pretty encouraging for the third pairing defenseman.
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Wild game:
— Zach Senyshyn made his NHL debut and, even though it was with the net empty, he got a goal.
With just over two minutes to play in the game, Senyshyn got the puck in the neutral zone, gained the blue line and finished on the vacant net.
Though his goal wasn’t the most expertly crafted, Cassidy was impressed with what he saw overall from the 15th pick in the 2015 draft.
“I thought he played really well, deserved that — even though it’s an empty netter — first pro goal,” Cassidy said. “They all count, right? But I thought he had a lot of chances early on, his first two shifts of the game he’s on pucks, he’s getting good looks. Not nervous, was ready to play, did his job, 200-foot game. But I liked that he was on the puck and was willing to attack the net when he got it, a lot of good things.”
— The Bruins rested David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara, which allowed for Senyshyn, Karson Kuhlman, Trent Frederic and Connor Clifton to all get plenty of action. It’s unclear who will get to rest in Saturday’s regular season finale, but expect another odd-looking lineup.
