The Boston Bruins left Montreal with a win on Saturday night, but could pay the price with two veteran injuries. Star defenseman Charlie McAvoy sustained an upper-body injury after being struck in the jaw by a shot from the blue-line. He was helped off the ice by a trainer and did not return tot he contest. Meanwhile, winger Viktor Arvidsson sustained a lower-body injury later in the contest. Arvidsson is expected to miss “some time” while McAvoy will undergo further testing, per head coach Marco Sturm (via WEEI radio).
McAvoy’s importance to the Bruins can’t go understated. He had averaged more than 25 minutes of ice time across his last six games entering Saturday night, and rewarded the heavy usage with six assists. The Bruins set a 5-1-0 record in that span. McAvoy has worked his way up to 14 points, all assists, in 19 games on the year. That mark leads all Bruins defenders in scoring, with Mason Lohrei (10 points) the only other with double-digit scoring. McAvoy also leads the Bruins’ blue-line in shots on goal (25), average ice time (23:46), and ice time on both the power-play and penalty-kill. He would leave massive shoes to be filled. The Bruins would need to lean on a committee approach in his absence, likely looking to Lohrei stepping up as a vital piece of the offense and Nikita Zadorov growing into an even bigger defensive role.
Arvidsson may not carry the same lineup role, but his role will be just as tough to replace. The 33-year-old has scored three points across his last four games, including the game-winning goal on Saturday prior to his injury. He now has 10 points in 20 games this season. Arvidsson also ranks second on the Bruins in shots on goal (52) behind star scorer David Pastrňák. He has provided shrewd depth scoring to a Bruins team that sorely lacked that last season. With his help, the Bruins have leaped from the fifth-fewest goals-for last season, to the second-most so far this season.
Boston is already facing a littany of injuries. Elias Lindholm was placed on injured reserve in early November, and both Casey Mittelstadt and John Beecher are nursing injuries from the press box. That will force the team to call someone up form the AHL to fill Arvidsson’s bottom-six role. Former first-round pick, and 6-foot-6 winger, Riley Tufte co-leads the Providence Bruins in scoring with 16 points, split evenly, in 13 games. He’s tied with 10-year pro Patrick Brown, who has six goals and 10 assists. Both players would be strong options to bring up, though Boston may want to reward top prospect Fabian Lysell, who has 12 points in 12 games while working through a shifting lineup role.
Lysell and Soderstrom?
Lysell’s offensive game seems to be a good match for Arvidsson’s. Soderstrom is a right shot who they traded for in June, so Sweeney must see something in him.
Awwwww Cheap Shot Charlie caught a puck in the face? The only thing that would make that story better is if it was on purpose.
Hope puck is ok.
Give us an example where McAvoy cheap shots someone? He’s a very good hitter as your boy Slavofsky found out – while flat on his ass!
Cheap Shot Charlie Cross checked Bedard in the face for absolutely no reason behind the play and broke his jaw. Does that count? And after that he drilled somebody else into the boards away from the play and injured him too although I can’t remember who it was. Karma is a fickle thing. But well deserved.
Gotta love your commitment to constant bitterness and anger.
Nice try, that was Brendan Smith that broke Bedard’s jaw. McAvoy isn’t a cheap shot artist he just hits really hard. All of his known big hits are legit hockey plays. Against Aho, Rienhart, Lundell, Josh Anderson, last year on McDavid vs team Canada. The only one I have see that may have been over the line was on Ekman-Larsen in the playoffs 2 yrs ago but that was near the puck. Sounds like you should just watch women’s hockey.
So he did two things in one random game that happen in every game but you think he deserves a nickname for cheap shotting people? Man you’re softer than velvet my dude.
The 2nd one wasn’t against the Hawks. It was later. He should have been suspended for both and it was McAvoy who broke his jaw, I was watching.
It was Brendan Smith
Yes, we know you were watching the Devils vs Blackhawks game…
You know that have this new fangled thing called the World Wide Web where you can look things up, right?
If you bothered to do so you would know it was Brendan Smith who broke Bedard’s jaw.
Bedard got his jaw broken by a shot taken by a guy who used a teammate as a screen and Bedard had no chance to get away from said shot. McAvoy wasn’t anywhere on the ice when it happened.
Boston’s record without Chuckie Bright Lights last year was NOT good.
Not to nit pick, but is it necessary to say “upper body injury” when we already know Charlie got hit in the face with a puck?
These Team USA injuries are piling up, but fortunately now and not in 2026.
Nah, keep nitpicking. Playing to your strength is always a solid strategy. The only thing that would have made it more true to form is if you had blamed it on Barry Trotz.
Considering that I’ve rarely blamed Trotz for the Preds woes, your comment is rather moronic.