The Boston Bruins will be a little light on blue-line manpower Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Bruce Cassidy announced Thursday at a press conference Matt Grzelcyk will be out of the lineup when the B's face off against the 'Canes in Game 6 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series. Cassidy indicated Grzelcyk is battling an injury, but he didn't disclose the ailment.
"Grizz is playing through a little bit of stuff," Cassidy said, as seen in video the Bruins provided. "We know that. He has been throughout the year, (and) we've given him certain nights to sort of recover and we just feel now is one of those times we're going to do that again."
Grzelcyk featured in 73 of the Bruins' 82 regular season games. He missed games in February, March and April due to injuries.
He played in each of the first five Bruins-Hurricanes postseason games. Mike Reilly is expected to replace Grzelcyk as Brandon Carlo's partner on the Bruins' second defensive pairing Thursday.
The Bruins must win in order to extend their season and give Grzelcyk the opportunity to return for a fateful Game 7.
NESN will air all the action from Bruins-Hurricanes Game 6, with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET on NESN with "Bruins Face-Off Live: Eastern Conference First Round." Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. "Bruins Overtime Live: Eastern Conference First Round" immediately will follow the final horn, and Boston-Carolina coverage wraps up with "Bruins Postgame Final: Eastern Conference First Round."
