Kevan Miller injured in Bruins’ loss to Maple Leafs
"He went to the hospital for observation."
TORONTO — The Bruins also lost rock-ribbed defenseman Kevan Miller late in the first period of Monday night’s 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Struck in the throat by a puck, Miller exited between periods and was not seen for the rest of the night.
“He went to the hospital for observation,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It doesn’t look serious, but they’ll keep him overnight and hopefully his breathing will be back to normal and he’ll come back and join us. Obviously, we wish him well.”
Midway through period No. 2, the Bruins announced that the defenseman was shut down for the night with an “upper body” injury. The loss of Miller added to the pile of injuries on the Boston defensive corps, with regulars Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo already in the midst of protracted absences.
At look at the play that forced Kevan Miller to miss the end of the first period. Weird bounce off the initial shot by Tavares. pic.twitter.com/jo7vwKV8XS
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 27, 2018
Toronto jumped to the 1-0 lead at 17:44 of the first when Travis Dermott nailed in a 35-foot wrister. Allowed plenty of time to wheel and deal in the slot, Dermott snapped off his shot with Miller and Hyman jostling for position at the top of the crease. It turned out to be Miller’s final shift of the night. Immediate details weren’t clear, but it appeared Miller was struck by the puck shortly before the goal. Local broadcasts reported that he had been taken to a local hospital, but the Bruins would neither confirm nor deny reports between periods.
Pastrnak, who clicked for a hat trick vs. the Leafs two weeks earlier at the Garden, banged in his first for the 1-1 equalizer at 3:39 of the second. It was a power-play strike, with linemate Brad Marchand sending a delicious backhand feed across the crease for Pastrnak to convert from low in the left wing circle.
The Leafs’ attack went dormant for the first half of the second. They didn’t put their first shot on net until the 9:42 mark, allowing the Bruins to amass a 21-10 shot lead.
Nonetheless, the Leafs moved to a 2-1 lead at 13:06, with rookie Igor Ozhiganov knocking home his first career goal. But the beautiful work on the goal belonged to Mitch Marner, the slick winger, who put on a skating tour de force behind Halak’s net before dishing out a silken feed for the oncoming Ozhiganov to one-time in from the left wing faceoff dot.
The Bruins only needed 1:16 to counter, with Pastrnak nailing in equalizer No. 2 after Marchand won a draw in the left wing circle. The draw came back to Torey Krug above the circle and he snapped a pass into the slot for Pastrnak to snare and then pop by Frederik Andersen.
Rookie Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, promoted to first-line center on Friday, was demoted to third-line duty after losing his five faceoffs in the first period. Coach Bruce Cassidy moved Colby Cave into his spot and reassigned JFK to third-line duty between Anders Bjork and Noel Acciari.
