For the first time in 2023-24, the Boston Bruins lost a hockey game to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. And they also lost one of their key trade deadline pickups after defenseman Andrew Peeke suffered an injury in the defeat.
Peeke is week-to-week, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery confirmed on Tuesday, and thus won't be an option for at least Games 3 and 4 in Toronto. The former Columbus Blue Jackets blue liner suffered an apparent finger injury in the second period of Game 2, and managed just 10:20 of time on ice before being forced out of the contest.
With Peeke on the shelf for at least the next two, it's possible that either Parker Wotherspoon or Mason Lohrei will replace the 26-year-old on the back end, according to The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa. Derek Forbort remains on long-term injured reserve, but he could be an option for either Game 3 or 4 as well.
The Bruins gave up Jakub Zboril and a third-round pick for Peeke's services ahead of the 2024 NHL trade deadline, and the injury could not have come at a worse time for player or club. The 25-year-old is in the midst of this fifth NHL season, and had only played in Ohio until he was shipped to Massachusetts just over a month ago.
Peeke was drafted No. 34 overall by the Blue Jackets in 2016; the right-shot D-man has scored 10 goals and 42 points with a minus-60 rating in 218 career games. But he was looking fine on the third pairing with Kevin Shattenkirk down the stretch, and his absence will be felt as the series shifts back to Toronto.
Bruins lead for most of Game 2 but fail to close the deal
The third contest of the Eastern Conference opening round series between the Atlantic Division rivals goes Wednesday night, and the B's will be looking to take home-ice advantage back after failing to close out the Leafs in front of the home crowd on Monday.
Despite leading 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period, the Bruins allowed John Tavares to score a powerplay goal that knotted the score at two late in the second period. And with just over seven minutes left in the final frame, Max Domi found Auston Matthews who broke in alone and beat Linus Ullmark to the forehand to make it 3-2.
It's the first time Toronto has led Boston in six games this season, but all that matters for the Buds is that the series is heading to Canada tied at one.
Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak scored for Boston in the loss, while Ullmark made 30 saves. Although he didn't come out victorious, Montgomery stood by his decision to go away from Jeremy Swayman despite him allowing just a single goal in Game 1.
“No second guesses. He was terrific. He made multiple, big-time saves,” the bench boss explained. “It’s a strength of our team. Both of them played really well. We only scored two goals.”
The B's will likely need to score more than that if they hope to take home-ice advantage back in what promises to be a raucous atmosphere at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.
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