When Brad Marchand got involved in an incident with Pittsburgh Pirates goaltender Tristan Jerry and ultimately was handed a six-game suspension, the Bruins did not just lose one of their top scorers. They also lost someone whose on-ice presence and leadership is irreplaceable.
Boston learned as much Thursday night in a brutal 6-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
"He's a competitive guy, second and third effort," head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "That passion. That's why you get asked sometimes, 'How do you deal with?' Well, we don't like when he's suspended. But we sure as hell would rather have him out there.
"That kind of passion would pull us into the fight tonight, because there wasn't a ton of that tonight."
The Bruins also were missing Patrice Bergeron, who is dealing with a head injury. But head coach Bruce Cassidy did not want to use the absence of the two stars as an excuse for the loss.
"There just was not enough pushback," Cassidy said. "So how are we gonna weather it? We're certainly gonna need a lot more pushback from guys that are expected to bring it, and some other veteran guys that might not but need to step in their absence. We were lacking both tonight in huge quantities."
Cassidy did give credit to Charlie McAvoy, who finished the night with two penalties -- including a five-minute major for fighting Tony DeAngelo -- and five hits. He also drew a penalty when Martin Necas got called for cross-checking him early in the game.
But McAvoy wasn't enough to pull the Bruins out of this hole.
The Hurricanes certainly are Stanley Cup contenders. And while the fact that they lead the Metropolitan Division at 32-10-3 is convincing enough, so too is their history against the Bruins this season.
Thursday's showdown marked the conclusion of the season series, which the Hurricanes absolutely dominated. This was Boston's second shutout at the hands of Carolina, as it fell 3-0 in the first meeting on Oct. 28. Carolina outshot the Bruins 16-1 across three games.
Here are more notes from Thursday's Bruins-Hurricanes game:
-- If the prolonged absence of both Bergeron and Marchand continues -- and it seems it will, as Bergeron will not travel to Ottawa for Saturday's game -- that could be bad news for the Bruins. Boston is 0-7-0 in games when both players have been absent, dating back to the 2010-11 season.
Cassidy said he assumes Bergeron will travel to New York next week, with the Bruins scheduled to play the Rangers on Tuesday.
-- Matt Grzelcyk took a spill in the second period of Thursday's game after trying to chase Andrei Svechnikov behind Boston's net. He remained on the ice for a bit but eventually skated off and down the tunnel.
Cassidy provided an update on the defenseman following the loss, noting it was an upper-body injury and the timeline for his return was unclear. He clarified that it was not a head injury.
-- The Bruins return to action Saturday, hitting the road for a matinee matchup against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop is set for 12:30 p.m. ET. NESN will air the game as well as pregame and postgame coverage.
