Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo’s return from a 10-game absence has been put on pause after just two appearances, with Carlo officially ruled out for Saturday’s rematch with the Penguins.
“He was in this morning but will not play tomorrow,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said after Friday’s practice. “He is day-to-day for now, upper body. Hopefully we get a good timeline on that.”
This isn’t too different from the update Cassidy gave following Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Penguins, with Cassidy noting that “it’s never a good sign when a player doesn’t return.” It was also hard to pinpoint exactly what could’ve happened to Carlo, who finished with 6:59 of time on ice before being ruled out for the rest of the night during the first intermission, to take him out of the lineup.
The latter is certainly concerning, too, as this was just Carlo’s second game back from that aforementioned 10-game absence due to a concussion. That concussion, which was the third confirmed concussion of Carlo’s NHL career, caused Carlo both vision and memory issues, but he was cleared by doctors earlier this week, and got in some practices before jumping right back into action for the Bruins.
With Carlo out of action, the Bruins practiced with Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy back together on the Black and Gold’s top pairing, while Jeremy Lauzon skated opposite Kevan Miller, Jakub Zboril skated with Steven Kampfer, and Jarred Tinordi played with Connor Clifton.
Of that group of eight, Miller is the only other one deemed unavailable for Saturday’s contest.
“No, not that quick,” Cassidy said when asked if Miller, who has missed 18 straight games with knee discomfort, will be available. “But ask me again on on Monday. He’s getting closer, but he will not play tomorrow.”
The Bruins enter Saturday’s contest with losses in two of their last three games, and seven of their last 12 overall.