Brad Marchand did not play the last 11 minutes for the Boston Bruins in a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in an exhibition game at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday.
The striker seemed to be discomforting and killed a penalty with 11:54 in the third half. 14 seconds later, he finished his last shift.
“He left,” said Boston coach Bruce Cassidy. “Don’t think it’s serious, but we’ll obviously have a better idea in the morning.”
The NHL Return to Play plan does not allow a team to disclose information about injuries or illnesses to players.
The Bruins will play an Eastern Conference round robin game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS). They also play Tampa Bay Lightning (August 5) and Washington Capitals (August 9) to determine sowing for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Marchand was second at the Bruins this season with 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists). His Linemate, top scorer David Pastrnakscored the Bruins’ goal after missing a day’s training camp and training with the entire team for the first time on Monday in Toronto, the eastern hub.
“Of course, I knew I wasn’t going to feel good,” said Pastrnak. “But in the end it wasn’t that bad. … To be honest, I would rather play and get the time to get into game mode, the sooner the better. I’m really glad I played.”
Pastrnak scored 48 goals this season to bring Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin lead for the NHL. After returning from the Czech Republic, he was quarantined for 14 days, including the first two days of the training camp, where he spent most of the time after the NHL season was interrupted on March 12 due to concerns about the corona virus. After skating on an ice rink in Boston, he completed a second 14-day quarantine, he said on Tuesday.
“Good legs,” said Cassidy. “Obviously scored a nice goal. Had a few glances. The whole line was a bit out of sync. They didn’t do the puck the way they normally do. Columbus did a good job against them. But I thought he was good played. ” A guy who hasn’t seen a lot of hockey. It is a good sign for us. “
Pastrnak scored at 12:16 in the second half and faked the goalkeeper of Blue Jackets Elvis Merzlikins before pushing the puck through his legs.
“I came from the line change,” said Pastrnak. “I saw Sean [Kuraly] had a bit of time and [Zdeno Chara] I buzzed the ice so I just let it go and then turned to the net and there was the puck. I was there all alone. So just a quick decision and it was nice to get on the board. “
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