Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm gave some positive injury updates on some key players.
Boston suffered a 6-2 home loss to the New York Rangers on Friday. However, the Bruins were without David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, and Matěj Blümel.
Sturm revealed after the game that Pastrnak and Zacha’s injuries aren’t considered serious and are day-to-day. Blümel, meanwhile, was placed on long-term injured reserve.
Although Boston was without some key players, Sturm was still disappointed in the Bruins’ performance on Friday.
“We knew it was going to be hard coming back from the road,” Sturm said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I think that was the biggest thing. Knowing maybe a few guys are missing, too. But this is not an excuse.
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“I think to survive those kinds of games and stretches, you have a lot of injuries, a lot of guys have to step up. And a lot of guys didn’t.”
Bruins star forward Morgan Geekie was also frustrated with the team’s effort, even though they were without multiple impact players.
“Obviously, we know the firepower that we lost, but at least for me, games like this are an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up and seize opportunity, and that’s how you kind of make it in this league,” Geekie said.
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“I think up and down the lineup we didn’t show up to start the game. It’s just not a very acceptable effort today.”
Boston will return to the ice on Saturday in the second half of a back-to-back when the Bruins host the Detroit Red Wings at 7 p.m. ET. Whether or not Pastrnak and Zacha will be in the lineup is uncertain.