Jim Montgomery shared that prime defender Hampus Lindholm will be out for “weeks” with a lower-body damage, suffered whereas blocking a shot from St. Louis’ Justin Faulk on Tuesday night time. The shot appeared to hit Lindholm’s left knee and compelled him out of the sport after simply eight minutes of ice time.
Lindholm’s departure from the lineup is dismal information for the Bruins. He’s obtained the second-highest ice time on the crew, averaging just below 21 minutes via 17 video games — solely behind Charlie McAvoy’s 24 minutes of common ice time. Lindholm has recorded three targets and 7 factors in that span, including 17 blocked pictures and 5 hits. He’s returned as a pillar of Boston’s play within the defensive half alongside D-partner Brandon Carlo, with the pairing additionally dealing with top-unit penalty-killing duties along with their heavy utilization at even-strength.
Lindholm’s distinguished position will make him a problem to interchange. Boston recalled veteran defender Jordan Oesterle on Wednesday morning, giving him an opportunity to debut with the crew after spending the final three seasons in Detroit and Calgary. Oesterle ought to present a few of the stalwart protection that Boston now finds themselves with out — and will even deliver an offensive spark, sitting with eight factors in 9 AHL video games this yr.
Oesterle will seemingly step right into a depth position whereas the crew waits for certainly one of Lindholm or Andrew Peeke — designated as week-to-week with an upper-body damage final week — to return to full well being. That also needs to present a lift in ice time for Mason Lohrei, who’s scored 4 factors in 13 video games this yr but additionally boasts the very best xGA/60 of all Bruins defenders, per Pure Stat Trick.
The Bruins will get a little bit of reduction of their schedule after visiting Dallas on Thursday, with Vancouver standing as their hardest competitors earlier than the top of November. They’ll hope to take full benefit of that respite, and both advance certainly one of their shutdown defenders again from damage or discover a appropriate alternative of their shallow defensive depth.
