“Upper-body injury,” the Bruins announced in the traditional formula that doesn’t tell much. In any case, Zacha was missing from the home team in the last seven minutes of the middle part.
And who is to blame for it was obvious from a more detailed look. The Czech forward was playing the puck at the goal post when the returning Nicolas Deslauriers pinned him to the Plexiglas, which was probably the worst option of the entire Flyers team. The 34-year-old winger is one of the hardest hitters in the current NHL. At the same time, the 10-kilo cut has a 0+0 record in the season, when he started in only 19 games with an average workload of 8:20 minutes.
In Boston, however, the Canadian forward shattered Zach’s Olympic dream. And he probably didn’t even notice. The Bruins support jumped in for two substitutions, but it didn’t go any further. “I don’t have more information,” said Boston coach Marco Sturm bluntly.
Zacha, nominated for the Olympic Games in Milan among the first six Czechs, has been in solid form lately. Against the Flyers, he promptly increased the score to 2:0 in the first period, and coach Radim Rulík is counting on him for the prestigious position of first center next to club teammate David Pastrňák.
The Bruins have only two games on the ice of Tampa Bay and Florida before the Olympic break. The five-ring tournament in Milan will start on February 11. And injuries to key players at the last minute are the worst nightmare for the implementation team of the Czech national team.
