Chris Wagner dealt with irregular heartbeat in second round

By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy called the injury that knocked Chris Wagner out of Boston’s must-win Game 5 against the Lightning a “different kind of animal.” And Wagner confirmed as much Friday, noting that he dealt with an irregular heartbeat that required a visit to a hospital outside of the Toronto bubble.

“I kind of noticed it during the second period of Game 4, my heart rate was kind of pounding,” Wagner said. “I’m usually pretty good about recovering on the bench. Kind of knew something was up and kind of played through the second [period] with the racing heartbeat and started to get some tests done in between the second and third. We ended up figuring out, long story short, that I went in the A-Fib and had an irregular heartbeat, which I never had before.

“I tried to play through it for like ten minutes and it didn’t feel right. When it comes to your heart you really got to be careful.”

And once Wagner left for the hospital, a mandatory four-day quarantine took him out of the Black and Gold’s Game 5 lineup.

“I was quarantined for Game 5,” Wagner revealed. “The quarantine part is kind of out of my control. Just a tough situation overall.”

The good news for the 29-year-old Wagner, who will begin the first year of a three-year extension worth $4.05 million next season, is that it’s not expected to create any long-term problems.

“At this moment, we don’t think there are going to be long term affects,” said Wagner. “Obviously, I’m going to get some more tests done next week. But, I guess it’s pretty common with athletes and it could be a one-time thing as well. Probably the best heart problem to have I guess, you could say.”

The Walpole, Mass. native totaled six goals and 10 points in 67 games during the regular season, and led all Boston skaters with 192 hits.