Jim Montgomery Gives Promising Injury Update On Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy

It sure didn’t look good when Boston Bruins star defenseman Charlie McAvoy exited early from Thursday night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

But less than 24 hours later, the Bruins can mostly breathe a sigh of relief.

McAvoy collided with Sabres forward JJ Peterka in the defensive zone less than two minutes into the third period as the Bruins blue liner got hit up high on the body. McAvoy went immediately to the bench before heading down the tunnel and not returning.

Jim Montgomery didn’t have much news on McAvoy’s status following the defeat, but on Friday the Bruins coach provided an encouraging update as it doesn’t look like McAvoy will miss much time at all.

“Day-to-day. We’re hopeful for tomorrow,” Montgomery told reporters after practice at Warrior Ice Arena, per team-provided video. “I do want to rule out it’s nothing with the head. It’s upper-body, nothing with the head.”

McAvoy did not practice Friday, but it still feels like the Bruins dodged a major bullet, especially since McAvoy is an instrumental part of Boston’s defensive unit. McAvoy leads all Bruins skaters in time on ice this season and his 17 points are the most of any defenseman on the team.

The Bruins defensive corps already is thin with the team putting Derek Forbort on long-term injured reserve Thursday, keeping him out for an extended period of time.

McAvoy coming nowhere close to the same fate is extremely positive news as he could be in the lineup Saturday when the Bruins look to rebound against the Arizona Coyotes. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.