For a brief moment during the Bruins’ holiday break, Bruce Cassidy was finally afforded a chance to relish his club’s upcoming status — with the B’s expected to roll out a completely healthy roster for the first time all season.
Well, it was good while it lasted.
"Here we are,” Cassidy said on Thursday. “It was enjoyable for about eight hours."
Sure enough, just a game removed from Zdeno Chara, Jake DeBrusk and Kevan Miller returning to the lineup after missing a combined 40 games due to various ailments, Cassidy provided a number of less-than-stellar updates following Friday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
Much to Cassidy's chagrin, the club once again expected to be without a couple of regulars in the lineup for the time being.
After losing Brad Marchand for the 2016 Winter Classic due to a suspension, the Bruins are set to play without another veteran forward for Tuesday’s Winter Classic matchup against the Blackhawks — as David Backes was suspended by the NHL on Friday night for three games.
The incident came at 17:57 in the third period of Thursday’s loss against the Devils, with Backes assessed a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head delivered against New Jersey forward Blake Coleman.
Backes, who was suspended for three games last March after delivering a high hit to Detroit’s Frans Nielsen, was considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Per the NHL Department of Player Safety’s video ruling of the hit: “It’s important to note that the head is the main point of contact on this hit. While Backes does graze Coleman’s shoulder on his way to making contact with Coleman’s head, the brunt of the impact on this hit is delivered to Coleman’s head. It’s also important to note that the head contact here was avoidable.”
After a rough start to the 2018-19 season, Backes was starting to settle in over the past month — notching nine points (three goals, six assists) over his last 16 games while earning reps on both the third and fourth line.
Along with the Winter Classic, Backes will not be able to play in Saturday’s road tilt against the Sabres and a home matchup against the Flames on Jan. 3.
Backes is not the only sidelined Bruins skater, as Boston will be without Charlie McAvoy for Saturday’s game against Buffalo, with the young defenseman placed on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury.
While the IR designation is clearly a cause for concern, Cassidy did note McAvoy is still eligible to return in time for Tuesday’s Winter Classic. McAvoy’s assignment to IR is retroactive to the day after he suffered the injury, which was on Sunday against the Hurricanes.
“McAvoy is traveling, but he won’t play tomorrow,” Cassidy said. “There is ice at Notre Dame, outdoors and indoors. There’s a good chance he’ll get back on skates. I can’t tell you what day that will be.”
Likewise, Marchand is also on the mend due to an upper-body injury, with the veteran winger not out on the ice for Friday’s practice.
“Upper body,” Cassidy said of Marchand. “Marchy was not feeling well going into the game yesterday. And then late in the game, he left with about a minute to go. He wasn’t feeling well today again. We’ll have a much better idea on him tomorrow. Doesn’t look likely for tomorrow would be my guess. But he’s traveling with us, so that could change.”
Cassidy mentioned that Marchand’s pregame illness could have been due to eating “something that disagreed with him,” but the winger also took his fair share of questionable hits during Thursday’s matchup.
Marchand took a high hit from Coleman in the opening minute of the contest before exiting with just over a minute to go in regulation after taking another hit from Travis Zajac.
Brad Marchand, who took a high hit in the first minute of Thursday's game, also was hit by Travis Zajac in the final minutes of the third period.
He headed down the tunnel after this sequence and didn't return for the end of the game. pic.twitter.com/51r636bmc0
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 28, 2018