BOSTON – The good news is that the Bruins are hopeful that Jake DeBrusk can return as soon as this weekend.
The bad news is that the 23-year-old winger was spotted at TD Garden with a walking boot on his left foot during Thursday night’s 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers. So, it might be a bit optimistic to think that DeBrusk will be ready to go on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators, or be able to play in back-to-back games with the Bruins also traveling to Pittsburgh for a Sunday night showdown with the Penguins.
Still, Bruce Cassidy sounded an optimistic tone when asked about DeBrusk's foot after the red-hot winger missed Thursday's game against the Panthers with the left foot injury.
“He tried to skate yesterday and kind of had a tough time. This morning, we didn’t go on the ice — only a couple guys went on, so we were going to see [on Thursday] when he got to the rink how he was. It hadn’t progressed very well, so we weren’t going to push it,” Cassidy said. “I’ve said this before this year, but I don’t think it’s anything major. That’s our official reports from the doctors.
“This isn’t me just making crap up, but it may be a couple days. He might be ready Saturday, it might be a week, but I don’t believe it’s anything noteworthy that’s going to keep him out for an extended period of time.”
DeBrusk was clearly favoring his left leg when he skated at B’s practice at TD Garden on Wednesday morning, and his presence was missed in a big way. With DeBrusk, Marcus Johansson and David Pastrnak all injured, the Bruins are missing a lot of offensive firepower on the wings, and David Krejci is missing all the finishers he had on his line.
Krejci scored again in Thursday’s win over the Panthers as he clearly was trying to shoulder more of the offensive load with Karson Kuhlman and Peter Cehlarik on his wings, and that’s a tough way to sustain things offensively if those three players are out for another week or two.
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DeBrusk, in particular, is somebody the Bruins have come to need over the last month. He’s posted eight goals and 15 points in his last 11 games, and had essentially stepped into the goal-scoring void created when Pastrnak went out of the lineup with his thumb injury. That being said, the Stanley Cup playoffs are little more than a month away and the Bruins shouldn’t rush DeBrusk back with a playoff spot well in hand after their current 18-game point streak.
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