RALEIGH, N.C. — It wasn’t a matter of if the Bruins were going to get a body in front of Justin Faulk’s slap shot in the closing minutes of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Rather, it was which B’s skater was going to put their body between biscuit and net first.
As the ‘Canes defenseman wound back to uncork a blast — looking for the equalizer in a 2-1 contest — Chris Wagner had the unlucky circumstance of being right in Faulk’s shooting lane, the lone piece of resistance from a clear look at Tuukka Rask.
Wagner, to the surprise of no one on Boston’s bench, did not move.
“That’s the name of the game right now,” Sean Kuraly said. “We’re going to push, they’re going to push. There’s no bad teams left anymore. Everyone is really good. Sometimes there’s going to be breakdowns. When it’s a shot, then you’ve got to get between it and the net.”
With a split-second to react, Wagner dropped to the ice to absorb the shot. He did not get back up in one piece.
Faulk’s blast struck the Bruins winger right on the arm, dropping him to the sheet in obvious pain. Gripping his arm and eventually skating over the B’s bench, Wagner spent a few agonizing minutes on the pine with team head athletic trainer Don DelNegro before a stoppage in play eventually allowed him to exit the game and head to the room for treatment.
Wagner’s willingness to put his body on the line helped Boston close out Game 3 against Carolina — putting the B’s just one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
The optics weren’t good following the Bruins’ win on Tuesday, with Wagner spotted postgame — arm wrapped in a sling — and heading to the X-ray room. While an official update has yet to be announced on Wagner’s status,
Bruce Cassidy
confirmed that his fourth liner will likely not be back anytime soon.
“He returned to Boston to get further tests, so he’s ruled out tomorrow," Cassidy said.
"Noel Acciari
will go in his spot. From there, we’ll sort it out once we get back to Boston.”
His latest tally came at a crucial time for his club, with the 27-year-old skater tapping a feed from
Joakim Nordstrom
past
Curtis McElhinney
1:21 into the second period to open the scoring on Tuesday night.
After
Wagner’s strike signaled the beginning of the end for the ‘Canes Cup hopes — with
Rod Brind’Amour’s
club once again failing to contain one of Boston’s four lines up front.
It was
Charlie Coyle’s
line that burned Carolina in Game 2 thanks to a combined seven points from Boston’s bottom-six trio, but on Tuesday, the Bruins’ combination of Wagner, Nordstrom and
Sean Kuraly
tapped into the ring to throw their weight around.
In the 8:24 of 5v5 TOI in which the Kuraly line got the call, the Bruins held a 13-8 edge in shot attempts, to go along with an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. While both the Bergeron and Krejci lines combined for three high-danger scoring chances — the Kuraly line accounted for four during their shifts together.
“You never want to see that,”
Charlie Coyle,
, said. “You want to keep battling with your teammates. But that’s a testament to him and what he’s willing to give for this team. To block a shot like that, that gets us fired up and it’s the little things, and they add up.
“It’s a big loss for us … We’re definitely playing for him and the other guys who are injured and can't be out there with us. But that’s how Wags is in a nutshell, he does whatever for the team.”
