The Bruins have won two straight, gotten points in their last three and appear to be turning a corner away from their season-jeopardizing six-game losing streak.
Good time for a curveball, right?
After a day off in Seattle on Sunday, the B’s showed up for practice at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday without Hampus Lindholm, who suffered some kind of unspecified injury and is going to miss some time, coach Marco Sturm told reporters in Seattle.
“It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing,” Sturm said. “Hopefully it’s not going to be too long. He’s definitely going to be out a little bit. We have to do more testing when we’re back in Boston.”
No bueno.
The defenseman missed most of last season when he suffered a broken kneecap on a blocked shot on Nov. 12, 2024, and it required a couple of surgeries to correct. He also missed eight of nine games in October with a lower-body injury, a period that encompassed the B’s first six-game losing streak of the season. When he returned, the B’s promptly went on a seven-game win streak.
It is not clear when he suffered the injury. He played 22:47, including a couple of shifts in overtime, in the B’s 3-2 win in Vancouver. Sturm said Lindholm remains with the team, which finishes its road trip Tuesday against the Kraken.
The Lindholm injury most likely means that Henri Jokiharju, who has been out since being injured in the Black Friday loss to the Rangers, will jump back into action. He has been skating for weeks and was already with the team on the five-game trip.
“It’s been a challenge just watching the games up top. It sucks that you can’t do anything to help the team win. It’s a little mental grind, let’s put it that way,” Jokiharju said.
Jokiharju skated in practice with Nikita Zadorov, with whom he played with when he first arrived in Boston at last March’s trade deadline and they made for a good pairing in a brief sample size.
Sturm said that there’s also a good chance that forward Tanner Jeannot, who missed the first four games of the trip due to another unspecified injury, will get back in action against the Kraken.
The Lindholm injury is not what the B’s were looking for at this moment in time, but every team is dealing with something in this condensed schedule. After a disastrous 1-3-1 homestand before Christmas, the B’s defensive game had bounced back on this trip, aided quite a bit by the return of Jonathan Aspirot in the Calgary. They’ve gone 2-0-1 since then and they’re now 16-5-1 with Aspirot in the lineup.
“Overall, the game without the puck has been much better. Power play is back clicking again. I think that’s a big difference. And I think also the goalie, (Jeremy Swayman) is giving us the save that we need at certain times in the games,” Sturm said. “Overall, it’s also a confidence thing. Guys are not as tight. It’s a combination of things. We’re feeling good and going into that game (Tuesday) knowing we can be above .500 and knowing we can do that on this trip, it will be excellent.”
The biggest bugaboo that they have not been able to escape is the issue of penalties. The B’s lead the NHL with 597 penalty minutes and 183 minors, including six in the OT win over the Canucks. Once again, Zadorov leads the league in PIMs (111) and minors (28).
“We addressed it again today in a little bit different way. I can’t tell you how. But again, it’s just guys should take it more personal now because they have to take ownership on those penalties,” Sturm said. “Everyone knows who’s leading the way and who’s not and who needs to get better in certain situations to go into games and battles and stuff like that.”
Like any coach, Sturm can live with some infractions but the B’s too often take the maddening stick fouls or the dreaded offensive-zone penalties.
“They can take penalties in front of our net to help out Sway or (Joonas Korpisalo). I have zero problem,” Sturm said. “But away from the puck and going into battles sometimes holding on to sticks when the referee’s right beside them…we’ve just got to be smart.”
One thing working in the B’s favor is the schedule. They played as much if not more than anyone in the league prior to the Christmas break. But they had two off before the Vancouver game and two more days off before they play Seattle. And like the Canucks, the suddenly hot Kraken (6-3-1 in their last 10 before Monday’s game) will be playing the second half of a back-to-back (they played Calgary on Monday).
“It’s been a long trip, obviously, but with this many days off, the excitement is going to be there for the game again,” David Pastrnak said. “We’re used to playing every other day so when you don’t, you feel the excitement and the energy in the room. You just have to make sure that we steal two points and we go home, finally.”
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