Source: Broken left fibula for Brandon Carlo

Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo suffered a broken left fibula, according to a source.

During Saturday's 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers at TD Garden, Carlo was battling for a puck in the defensive corner with the Panthers' Aleksander Barkov at 10:25 of the third period. Carlo's left skate appeared to have caught a rut in the ice and he fell awkwardly with his leg getting twisted underneath him.

He was taken off on a stretcher. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy did not have an update immediately after the game.

"It doesn't look good when you go off on a stretcher, so we'll keep our fingers crossed on that one," Cassidy said before the team left for its next road trip, beginning in Philadelphia on Sunday against the Flyers.

This is another example why general manager Don Sweeney acquired depth at the trade deadline. So, the defensive pairings to begin the Stanley Cup playoffs could look like this:

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Holden/McQuaid
Grzelcyk-Miller

It's terrible timing for Carlo because the second-year defenseman has been playing well of late. He had been battling through some inconsistent play for the majority of the season, but he really stepped up his game while Chara and McAvoy have been out of the lineup.

Carlo suffered a concussion in game No. 82 of the regular season last year and missed the playoffs.

Dr. Flynn's BSJ analysis

The worst-case scenario is surgery and Carlo could return in 4-6 months. The best case is tiny fracture and could return in 2-6 weeks.



Dr. Jessica Flynn is a sports medicine physician at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, MA. She writes about injuries in professional sports on her blog, DocFlynn.com. You can follow her on Twitter @jessdeede.

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