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Boston Bruins

Bruins dealt more bad news in loss to Avalanche

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Author Ty Anderson
Oct 19, 2023; San Jose, California, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) during the second period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

A shootout loss in Colorado came with some bad news for the Bruins long before Valeri Nichushkin sent Ball Arena home happy, as the Bruins lost defenseman Brandon Carlo to an upper-body injury.

The Bruins lost Carlo for the second half of the second period, and the team ruled Carlo out for the remainder of the game shortly into the second intermission. It was unclear exactly how and where Carlo was injured, though his final shift did include a few bumps that appeared to knock Carlo off balance.

Speaking after the loss, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery did not have much to say about Carlo’s status.

“Upper body,” Montgomery said when asked for an update on the 6-foot-5 Carlo. “I’ll find out more after [tonight]. I don’t really know yet, the extent of [the injury].”

The Bruins obviously know more than the always-and-intentionally vague ‘upper body’ designation, but the obvious hope is that this is not an injury that has anything to do with Carlo’s head. Carlo has a noteworthy concussion history, and though he’s avoided them for a good little stretch here, it’s always in the back of your mind when it comes to any early exit or ‘nothing play’ kind of injury involving the 27-year-old defenseman.

Without Carlo, the Bruins had to lean on Parker Wotherspoon for what was a season-high 20:48 of time on ice, while Matt Grzelcyk played over 21 minutes for just the fourth time all season and for the first time since Dec. 16.

Hampus Lindholm logged 26:05, while Charlie McAvoy finished with a team-leading 30:50 of action.

“It said a lot,” Montgomery said of his shorthanded defensive unit stepping up in Carlo’s absence and in a night full of penalty trouble for the Bruins. “I thought they played intelligently. We told them to stay inside the dots, have good gaps, and not get outside the dots so they could conserve energy, so to speak.”

Should Carlo’s absence extend into Tuesday night against the Coyotes, Mason Lohrei seems like the ‘next man up’ for the Bruins after sitting as Boston’s backend scratch Monday night in Denver.

Lohrei, who recently underwent some dental work after an errant puck hit him in the face in Columbus back on Jna. 2, posted a minus-3 rating in just 8:29 against the Penguins last Thursday.

Carlo, who has been Boston’s go-to defenseman in the defensive zone and on the penalty kill this year, has recorded 10 points a plus-15 rating — as well as 71 blocks and 51 hits — through 39 games this season.

Carlo is also the second Bruin to suffer an injury in the last week alone, joining winger James van Riemsdyk, who is out with an undisclosed injury.

3 Stars: Bruins manage to grab point against Avalanche

Not all ‘loser points’ are created equal.

In fact, the point banked away by the Bruins in Monday’s shootout loss to the Avalanche at Denver’s Ball Arena is something that dare I say the Bruins should almost feel good about earning.

Matched up against the speedier and more skillful Avalanche, the Bruins erased two separate deficits in regulation, and even survived a late-game penalty kill to send this game to overtime. (It was one of six trips to the kill the Bruins made throughout the night, and without defenseman and penalty-killing rock Brandon Carlo for the third period).

The Avs should’ve ended things on that late-game power-play opportunity, too, if we’re being honest. Cale Makar was set up for a beauty of a one-time bomb from about eight feet out with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. It didn’t go. And then Nathan MacKinnon found himself alone in front of the Boston net about 30 seconds later. How many teams out there can survive two close calls with talents like that?

  • Of course, on the other side of the coin, the Bruins did let an overtime power-play opportunity slip through their fingers. That was absolutely the B’s best chance to put the Avalanche to bed, and despite countless looks, the Bruins did not capitalize on their chances as well as they should have, with two frustrating ‘force’ plays from David Pastrnak that led to clears from the Avs.

    In addition to the loss, the Bruins also saw their recent scoring surge come to an end, as the Bruins scored ‘just’ three goals in the loss. That put an end to what was a six-game stretch of at least four goals for Boston, which was their longest such run on that front since Nov. 2011.

    Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a shootout loss in Colorado…

  • No. 3 Star: Cale Makar

    DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 09: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche plays the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period at Ball Arena on December 09, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

    DENVER, COLORADO – DECEMBER 09: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche plays the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period at Ball Arena on December 09, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

  • My goodness, Cale Makar is something.

    I mean, even on a night where Makar had just one assist, this guy was all over the ice for Colorado.

    Deployed for 31:17 of time on ice, Makar came through the secondary assist on Mikko Rantanen’s power-play marker, and was Colorado’s most aggressive player in the overtime frame. Makar led a 2-on-1 chance that led to a Jonathan Drouin chance that nearly beat Jeremy Swayman, and Makar pressed hard on Pastrnak with the B’s on the man advantage and even turned it into a partial breakaway that just missed.

    Dude is just an absolute freak.

  • No. 2 Star: Brad Marchand

    Jan 8, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his goal with defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

    Jan 8, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his goal with defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) in the third period against the Avalanche at Ball Arena. (Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)

  • On a night where the Bruins didn’t have too much juice, team captain Brad Marchand led the way for the Black and Gold, with two goals (on two shots) and two hits in over 20 minutes of time on ice.

    “Marchy was terrific,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought he led really well, and he was very vocal on the bench about how we need to get to our game and explaining to his teammates what we had to do.”

    The two-goal performance also continued what’s been a solid heater for No. 63, as he has now recorded points in 12 of his last 17 games. Marchand has recorded 10 goals and 18 points over that 17-game run, too.

  • No. 1 Star: Jeremy Swayman

    Jan 8, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) before the game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

    Jan 8, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) before the game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. (Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)

  • Let’s call it like it is: The Bruins would’ve been run out of the building tonight had it not been for the performance of netminder Jeremy Swayman. Point blank.

    The Bruins crushed their own goaltender when Pavel Zacha and Kevin Shattenkirk collided and gave Logan O’Connor an easy strike, and while you can make the case that the Sam Malinski goal was a stoppable shot, Swayman more than made up for it throughout the night.

    Swayman did the bulk of his damage with the Bruins down a man, too, as he came through with nine stops on 10 shots against with the B’s on the penalty kill. He was also nails during Boston’s late-game kill.

    And in overtime, Swayman came through with an excellent stop on a 2-on-1, and looked poised throughout. He also stopped Colorado’s first two shootout attempts before he surrendered the winner in the bottom of the third round, and with zero support from the Bruins, who went 0-for-3 in the shootout.

Ty Anderson is 98.5 The Sports Hub’s friendly neighborhood straight-edge kid. Ty has been covering the Bruins (and other Boston teams) since 2010, has been a member of the PHWA since 2013, and went left to right across your radio dial and joined The Sports Hub in 2018. Ty also writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to the Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox.

Click here for 98.5 The Sports Hub’s complete coverage of the Bruins. 

Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.

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