The Bruins have been without Hampus Lindholm since the second period of Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes after the Boston defenseman was on the receiving end of a heavy hit from Andrei Svechnikov, but he will return Thursday night for a must-win Game 6.
Lindholm was dealing with an upper-body injury but began practicing last week. He was unable to travel to Raleigh for Game 5 but was cleared for Game 6 and will take his spot on the top defense pairing alongside Charlie McAvoy.
The blueliner spoke to the media Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena and said he began to feel better rather quickly after the initial hit.
"It was pretty quick after (Game 2), actually. Luckily I'm in good shape enough to take it in a good way," he told reporters. "I'm lucky it wasn't worse. I remember coming around the net and I wanted to try to take the middle there and taking a peek over my shoulder and didn't really see anything. ..."
Lindholm didn't have a problem with Svechnikov's hit, noting that's just playoff hockey and he's ready to move on.
"He wants to hit. It's the playoffs," Lindholm said. "That's almost a week ago now, it's in the past. I'm just excited to be back in the lineup and play some hockey here."
At the end of the day, Lindholm is just happy to get back into the lineup.
"This time of year, you want to be out there," he said. "I think I probably would rank myself as the worst guy watching hockey. It's not fun sitting in the stands or watching at home from the TV. I'm glad to be out there."
Puck drop for Bruins-Hurricanes Game 6 is set for 7 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 6 p.m.
