The Boston Bruins moved to 5-1-0 thanks to an offensive explosion from David Pastrnak in a 4-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, but another key offensive cog’s status for Thursday night may be up in the air.
David Krejci left Monday’s game at TD Garden after skating just seven shifts for 4:43 time on ice before leaving with what head coach Bruce Cassidy called an upper-body injury on NESN’s postgame coverage.
Krejci’s status for Thursday’s tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning may be in question.
“Obviously, he left. He tried to play through it, didn’t come back,” Cassidy told reporters after the game, via a team-provided transcript. “We’ll see how he is. (Tuesday) is an off day, so Wednesday we’ll have a better idea. … We moved some people around and at the end of the day got through it, and hopefully Krech is good to go on Thursday against Tampa.”
Boston filled in for Krejci by giving Charlie Coyle extra minutes and moving Joakim Nordstrom up to pivot the third line, with Chris Wagner also playing a fair amount of center.
Should Krejci be unable to go Thursday, Cassidy is anticipating Par Lindholm to move back into the lineup after sitting out each of the last two games as a healthy scratch.
“We’d probably look at Lindholm first. He’s done a good job for us,” Cassidy said. “Whether he goes right into that spot or if we move Charlie, you know, but if he’s not ready, I suspect Lindholm would certainly be the first guy we’d look at. We’ll have to discuss that internally, see if there’s a better fit in Providence, but I think Lindy’s done his job here for us, so he should get that opportunity.”
In five games, including Monday, Krejci has posted one assist.
