The Boston Bruins started the campaign on the right note with a 5-2 road win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday at Capital One Arena, but it wasn't all good vibes coming out of their season-opening victory.
Already dealing with injuries to stars Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand while defenseman Matt Grzelcyk continues his rehab as well, the Bruins could ill afford another key player going down, but injury luck isn't on their side at the moment.
Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk suffered an upper-body injury less than four minutes into the second period when he took a hit from Washington defenseman Erik Gustafsson and landed on his left shoulder.
DeBrusk tried to play through the injury, but couldn't manage to, and was not see on the bench for the entire third period. Following the contest, first-year coach Jim Montgomery didn't provide much of an update on DeBrusk's health.
"He played two-thirds of the game and didn't come out for the third," Montgomery told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. "I don't have an update. We will (Thursday)."
DeBrusk, who skated on the top line alongside Patrice Bergeron and Taylor Hall, ended up being on the ice for 11:06 and recorded three shots.
For the Bruins' sake, they need DeBrusk's ailment to not be too serious as they are getting close to being unable to withstand the rash of injuries they are already facing.
The Bruins return to action Saturday when they take on the Arizona Coyotes in their home opener, and it will be interesting to see if DeBrusk is available to play in that contest. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
