The Bruins sent an unsettling tweet Thursday night when they announced winger Brad Marchand wouldn’t return to the game with a lower-body injury. That’s just about the bad news bingo, especially when it’s a star player on a Stanley Cup contender in a stretch run.
However, Boston fans can exhale, as it sounds like Marchand will be OK. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Thursday night the club was hopeful Marchand avoided any serious injury, and he reiterated that point Friday morning. In fact, in an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich,” Montgomery revealed Marchand is expected to be in the lineup Saturday against the New York Rangers.
The news on its own is good. What makes the development even more encouraging is that the Bruins could easily sit Marchand on Saturday to give him even more time off. The Bruins play New York on Saturday at TD Garden, and then they’re off until March 9 when they host Edmonton. They easily could have held out Marchand on Saturday and given him an entire week to heal up, so it’s obviously great news for the club that they don’t even feel the need to take that option.
Boston can use all the good injury mojo it can get right now. The Bruins are already down two forwards, with Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno both out for the foreseeable future with the club getting “discouraging” news about both.
The Bruins addressed that potential void when they acquired winger Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit on Thursday. He should make his debut Saturday against New York. General manager Don Sweeney made it seem like the team was done dealing, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the Bruins added one more depth forward before Friday afternoon’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.
