Brad Marchand ruled out of Sunday’s game vs. Wild with upper-body injury
"There's really nothing new to report yet. He's out today."
The Bruins will take to the ice on Sunday afternoon without their captain, Brad Marchand.
Marchand — who exited Saturday’s road win over the Penguins after getting hit hard into the boards during the first period — has been ruled out of Sunday’s matchup against the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center.
“Same as yesterday,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said when asked for any updates regarding Marchand. “There’s really nothing new to report yet. He’s out today. We’ll know more. He’ll get evaluated when we get back to Boston. Still, it’s an upper-body injury right now.”
Sacco noted that Marchand made the trip to Minnesota with his teammates, but the 36-year-old captain has not received the green light for game action.
Marchand was injured just 5:56 into the first period of Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh — with Pittsburgh defenseman P.O. Joseph delivering a hit from behind on the winger.
Marchand went face-first into the boards, and remained on the ice for several minutes before eventually needing the assistance of both David Pastrnak and a trainer to get him on his skates and moving toward the dressing room.
The Bruins have been stung by the injury bug over the last month — with both Trent Frederic and Matt Poitras exiting games last week. Frederic is now “week-to-week” after suffering a lower-body injury against the Maple Leafs on Feb. 25, while Poitras left Boston’s loss to the Islanders on Feb. 27 after slamming into an opening on New York’s bench in a bizarre sequence.
Poitras did avoid major injury, as he returned for Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh. But Marchand’s status remains murky, with Boston already without its top-two defenseman in Charlie McAvoy (AC joint, infection) and Hampus Lindholm (fractured patella).
With Marchand sidelined on Sunday, Justin Brazeau will slot back into the lineup for Boston — while Georgii Merkulov will replace Marchand at left wing on a line with Charlie Coyle and Elias Lindholm.
“I thought he made some good plays, some sneaky plays offensively,” Sacco said of Merkulov’s play on Saturday in Pittsburgh. “He’s good with the puck. He sees the ice.
“The decisions at the blue lines is something that we have to continue to manage — make sure that time and score where we’re at, just that he makes good plays at the blue line. But I thought you could see some offensive ability there.”
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