The four-game road trip did not start off well, as the Boston Bruins lost 4-3 to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Now, as they prepare to head up the 5 Freeway to battle the Los Angeles Kings, coach Marco Sturm has challenged the Bruins' defense to pick things up in the absence of Charlie McAvoy, who is out indefinitely.
“Every team goes through it, and unfortunately, it's us right now,” Sturm said. “When you talk to players, they always want ice time, they always want playing time, they hate to be scratched, and this and this and that. Well, this is their opportunity.”
McAvoy sustained the injury on Saturday, November 15, when he took a puck to the face in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Since then, the Bruins have shifted their defensive pairings to make up for his absence. Before he left the ice, McAvoy had spent 13:41 on the ice. In the game against the Habs, he blocked three shots while also taking a slashing penalty. McAvoy entered the contest with 14 assists through 18 contests and was averaging 24:20 minutes a night, leading Boston in time on ice.
Now, McAvoy is out indefinitely after facial surgery, which means Boston will have to adjust without him. As a result, the defensive pairings have shifted. Jonathan Aspirot is now playing on the top pairing with Nikita Zadorov, and the second pairing has Hampus Lindholm and Henri Jokiharju. Lindholm has replaced McAvoy on the first power play, while Jokiharju and Mason Lohrei have been on the second power play.
The results so far have been mixed. While they killed off two penalties against the Carolina Hurricanes, they went 2 for 3 on the penalty kill against the Ducks on Wednesday. But the defense also let in a critical, late goal, as Ian Moore fired a shot from the top of the crease on a pass from Leo Carlsson that zipped past goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
The Bruins will look to bounce back on Friday as they face the Kings at Crypto.com Arena. And they will have to survive without McAvoy for a while, which is going to be quite a challenge.
