The Boston Bruins will be undermanned when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Neither David Krejci nor Joakim Nordstrom will travel with the team to Canada, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy announced after Friday’s practice.
Krejci is dealing with an upper-body injury sustained during Monday’s win over the Anaheim Ducks. The ailment limited Krejci to just seven shifts and less than five minutes of ice time Monday before he exited the game. Nordstrom’s injury is new, as he skated 15:21 minutes in Thursday’s shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both players missed time at the beginning of the season with injuries.
Cassidy did not rule out the Bruins calling someone up from Providence, with Brendan Gaunce and Anders Bjork being the likely candidates.
Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron all did not take part in Friday’s practice. All of those players simply were receiving maintenance days except for Bergeron, who Cassidy said was dealing with a lower-body injury. Bergeron will travel to Toronto and Cassidy believes the top-line center will play.
Toronto is dealing with some health problems of its own, as John Tavares is going to be out for the next few weeks.
Jaroslav Halak will be in goal for Boston on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
