Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Marco Sturm and the Bruins are once again navigating their way through a new set of injuries on the B’s roster.
The first injury came on Boston’s backend, with defenseman Jonathan Aspirot lost to an upper-body injury in the first period of the 6-3 win in Winnipeg. Aspirot’s injury ended his night after just 4:19 of time on ice and seven shifts, and saw the gritty defender ruled out for the remainder of the night by the second period.
Viktor Arvidsson, meanwhile, was the second Bruin to fall in this contest, with his lower-body ailment knocking him out after 7:30 of action over 10 shifts in the first two periods of play before he was ruled out for the third period.
And it appears that the Bruins will have to play the waiting game with both.
“No, not at all,” Sturm said postgame when asked if he had an update on either player following the club’s win over the Jets. “We’ll see, [but] hopefully it’s not too bad. Both players have played great, but we’ll see.”
A late bloomer, Aspirot has been a more-than-pleasant surprise on the backend for Sturm this season as a no-nonsense, gritty defender. Able to play both the left and right side, Aspirot has posted one goal and a plus-8 rating, along with 32 hits and 28 blocks, in 19 games for the B’s this season.
The Arvidsson issue will be worth monitoring here, as he’s already dealt with a lower-body issue this season, with seven absences last month. The 32-year-old was productive upon his return to the Boston lineup, too, with a goal and four points in five games prior to exiting Thursday’s contest.
With Friday being an off day for the club, any updates on either Aspirot and/or Arvidsson will have to wait until Saturday’s practice in Minnesota.
The good news for the Bruins, though, is that they do have reserves on deck at each spot, with Victor Söderström with the club as their seventh defenseman and with Mikey Eyssimont and Jeffrey Viel with the club as their extra forwards.