BRIGHTON, Mass. — The plot thickens with Patrice Bergeron’s lower body injury as the star center won’t make the upcoming two-game road trip through Montreal and Ottawa after missing Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
This news comes after Bergeron had returned for a couple of games and posted five points after missing two games with the same lower body injury, an issue that’s believed to have cropped up when he fell awkwardly after being hauled down during an offensive zone face-off in the win over the Maple Leafs a couple of weeks ago in Toronto.
At the very least that means Bergeron will have missed two stints with the lower body injury and four of the last six games with what’s believed to be the same groin-area injury that’s been bothering the 34-year-old over the last few seasons.
“Lower body. He’s not going to travel. Other than that, there’s no timeline on it. We just want to make sure when he’s in the lineup that he’s not putting himself at further risk [for injury] so now the staff will stay on top of it,” said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, who said that he hadn’t delved too deeply into the diagnosis of Bergeron’s injury, but didn’t rule out the possibility that it could lead to a midseason surgery to fix it like the injury that Sidney Crosby recently had repaired in Pittsburgh. “It’s the same area [of injury] so they think this is the best way to go for now.”
With Bergeron out of the lineup, that means David Krejci will again bump up to center Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak after excelling with them in the two games that Bergeron missed last week. Charlie Coyle will then center Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen on the second line.
With Bergeron and Brett Ritchie also out of the lineup with a recurrence of his upper body infection in the last few days, the Bruins have called up young center Jack Studnicka and versatile forward Brendan Gaunce for the road games against the Canadiens and Senators.
Boston Bruins
Find the latest Boston Bruins news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
The good health news at practice?
David Backes (upper body injury) made it through practice in a no-contact jersey and defenseman John Moore practiced in a regular jersey, though he isn’t expected to be available to play this week. It’s expected that Jaroslav Halak will get the start on Tuesday night against the Canadiens after Tuukka Rask replaced him due to illness last Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild.
Here are the projected line combos and D-pairings based on Monday’s practice with Bergeron and Ritchie both out:
FORWARD LINES
| Brad Marchand | David Krejci | David Pastrnak |
| Jake DeBrusk | Charlie Coyle | Danton Heinen |
| Anders Bjork | Sean Kuraly | Jack Studnicka |
| Joakim Nordstrom | Brendan Gaunce | Chris Wagner |
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
| Zdeno Chara | Charlie McAvoy |
| Torey Krug | Brandon Carlo |
| Matt Grzelcyk | Connor Clifton |
STARTING GOALIE
| Jaroslav Halak |
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.