The good news is that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who exited Saturday’s win over the Montreal Canadiens after he took a puck to the jaw in the second period, was able to fly back home with his teammates. The bad news, however, is that the Bruins remain a club without a clear update when it comes to the health of their No. 1 defenseman.
“He’s with the doctors right now, so there’s no timeline,” Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said of McAvoy following Monday’s morning skate at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena. “Obviously, he’s gonna be out [Monday] and we’ll see how he goes today with all his appointments.”
And the McAvoy injury was about as ugly as they come, really. Not only did the shot make direct impact with McAvoy’s chin/jaw, but a closer look at the replays also seemed to indicate that McAvoy lost at least one tooth on direct impact.
McAvoy immediately collapsed down to the ice, with noticeable blood loss out of his mouth, before leaving the game.
It’s presently unclear if McAvoy will need surgery.
“I’m not in charge, so we have to wait and see,” Sturm said when asked about that option for McAvoy and the club.
With McAvoy down, the Bruins leaned on Hampus Lindholm for a season-high 27:19 of time on ice, while de facto top righty-shooting option Andrew Peeke played over 22 minutes for just the fifth time this season. The Bruins will continue lean on those guys, as well as Nikita Zadorov, on Monday night when the Hurricanes come to TD Garden.
But McAvoy’s absence will not require the Bruins to make a call to Providence just yet, as the club is on home ice and has Henri Jokiharju ready to step back into the lineup after sitting out Saturday’s contest as a healthy scratch.
“It’s going to take all of us,” Sturm said of a McAvoy-less Boston defense. “That’s all it is. I’m not gonna put it in [Jokiharju] or [Mason Lohrei]’s hands because Charlie’s out. It’s going to take all of us. Forwards gotta take care of our D [and] special teams we gotta be better, stay out of the box.”
The problem for the Bruins, though, is that McAvoy was not the only loss from Saturday’s win over Montreal.
The Bruins will also find themselves without winger Viktor Arvidsson for the foreseeable future, and with Arvidsson’s injury termed “week-to-week” by Sturm on Monday. The Bruins placed Arvidsson, along with Casey Mittelstadt, on the injured reserve Monday, and transferred injured defenseman Jordan Harris to the long-term injured reserve.
Those moves were necessary for the club to summon forwards Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte up from Providence for Monday’s contest. The recalls were the expected moves for the Bruins, as the P-Bruins held both players out of their lineup on Sunday.
Tufte comes to Boston with eight goals and 16 points through 13 games this season, and is slated to skate with Sean Kuraly and Mikey Eyssimont on the Black and Gold’s fourth line tonight. The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder made six appearances for Boston last season, with eight hits and a shot on goal for the B’s, and has totaled two goals and one assist in 24 NHL games since 2021-22.
Blumel, meanwhile, will skate on the right side of Boston’s second line with Alex Steeves and Pavel Zacha, and is projected to play a part on the Boston man advantage in this contest. Blumel, who was one of the final cuts from the club’s NHL training camp roster, has totaled two goals and 13 points in 13 games for the P-Bruins this season, and led the AHL in goals last season.
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