It’s no secret the Bruins have been dealing with injuries over the past six games that have sent them into a free fall, as they have now lost four of their last five games. The injuries have been all over the place but mostly been centered around the defensive core besides the loss of David Pastrnak. For the Bruins, it’s been a tough stretch and has come at the worst possible time as they are in the middle of a playoff race to determine the third seed in the Atlantic Division. For the Bruins, these losses have dropped them back into the top wild-card spot and now have them three points behind Tampa Bay for the third spot in the Division. The Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tampa Lightning have all clinched their playoff spot, while the Bruins repeatedly failed to do so when given the opportunity.
Carlo Makes Return to Practice
For the Bruins, righting the ship has to be their biggest focus at the moment as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night at TD Garden. The first step for the Bruins to right the ship will be for them to get healthy, and after today’s practice, there was some clarity as to when that will be. The first good news came last night with the return of Matt Grzelcyk to the second pairing as the Bruins were pushing their defensive depth to its limits. The Bruins got some good news today as Brandon Carlo returned to practice for the first time after leaving the St. Louis Blues game with an apparent head injury. At practice, Carlo showed no signs of injury during the more intense portions of practice indicating he’s trending in the right direction to play tomorrow. However, his status remains unknown, with no official word from head coach Bruce Cassidy. With Carlo’s history of concussions, the Bruins may take the safe approach and ensure he is 100 percent before rushing him back too early.
Update on Ullmark
The great news for Boston is that Linus Ullmark was back in the building for today’s practice but didn’t participate in on the ice drills. After leaving last night’s game due to a shot to the facemask that seemed to shake him up, it’s good news that he was able to return to the building to be with his teammates. While there is still no official timetable on when Ullmark will be back, Bruce Cassidy does seem to be optimistic that the injury won’t keep him out of action for long.
Pasta and Lindholm Getting Closer to a Return
As for the two players who have missed the most time and mean the most to the Bruins, Hampus Lindholm and David Pastrnak have been ruled out of tomorrow’s game. The good news is that both players were spotted skating today before practice. While it is terrible news that they are still out, it does seem they are slowly inching back to returning to the team. Hopefully, the Bruins can get them back before the playoffs to knock off any rust and get them back up to game speed.
Frederic Allowed Out of Cassidy’s Dog House
On a non-injury note, Bruce Cassidy mentioned that right-winger Trent Frederic would be reinserted back into the lineup for tomorrow’s game. Frederic was a healthy scratch last night against Ottawa after committing a stupid penalty in the St. Louis game that didn’t rub head coach Bruce Cassidy the right way resulting in Frederic heading to the dog house.
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