Nine players already are out between the two teams
When the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers meet Sunday in Lake Tahoe, both sides will be a little bit shorthanded.
Philly is on the rebound from a COVID-19 outbreak within the team that landed several players in the health and safety protocols. While the Bruins have averted such a crisis thus far, they haven’t been able to duck injury problems.
As a result, six Flyers and three Bruins already have been ruled out for the matchup on (well, beside) the lake.
Here’s the Bruins’ list:
Ondrej Kase
Matt Grzelcyk
Jakub Zboril
Few surprises are here. Grzelcyk and Zboril have been dealing with injuries, and so too has Kase — who hasn’t played since the second game of the season.
The Bruins will bring Steven Kampfer and Karson Kuhlman on the trip, while Callum Booth will serve as the taxi squad goalie. Tuukka Rask already is confirmed to be starting in net.
Here is the Flyers’ list:
Claude Giroux
Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom
Scott Laughton
Justin Braun
While the Bruins obviously aren’t benefiting from their absences, the Flyers have it far worse. Giroux, Voracek and Konecny are major point-scorers, while Lindblom, Laughton and Braun all are lineup regulars.
Morgan Frost also is on the COVID-19 list, but he already was on injured reserve.
So while that’s nine players already ruled out, such is life of playing a professional sports season in the middle of a global pandemic.