Jaffe: Losing Hampus Lindholm is big deal for Bruins
On Thursday’s Toucher & Hardy program, Billy Jaffe reacted to Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm getting injured Wednesday night against the St. Louis Blues.
Jaffe on Lindholm Injury
Parts of conversation abbreviated for clarity.
Fred Toucher: Let’s get into it. Hampus Lindholm is hurt. What are you hearing about the injury?
We had Fluto Shinzawa on earlier in the week. He said Lindholm has been the Bruins’ best player this year. How big of a deal is this at this point in the year?
Billy Jaffe: Yeah well, we starting to hear more about what’s going on. Jim Montgomery talked about it yesterday. We’re hearing that the injury recovery process will be weeks. It’s not short-term, meaning days. Besides that, no exact detail.
Toucher: Do you think he broke a bone? He took a puck off the top of his leg above his knee.
Jaffe: Yeah Fred, it caught him in that tweener spot where it’s right above the knee, where the shin pad isn’t covering the skin. I’m wondering exactly what the injury might be. It’s something with his knee or right above that. And it’s a significant enough injury.
Usually, when you get hit that spot, it’s just a nasty bruise and you work through it or take a day off of practice.
But it’s something significantly more. And I think viewers felt that watching him leave the ice. At first, your initial reaction is, “Wait a second. He’ll come back in 5 minutes. He’ll go off and get it iced or frozen and he’ll work through it.”
And then he doesn’t come back on the ice and your thinking, “Oh, crap. There’s something more here.”
How big of a deal? Well, he has been playing pretty well for the Bruins. He gets involved offensively, bringing the puck in from the back end. So, it’s a big deal.
Especially, for a team whose five-on-five team has been better lately. “The power playing units, eh, not so much. But their even-strength game has been better the last couple of games. Lindholm has also been a big part of that.
Charlie McAvoy seemed to understand last game that he needed to elevate his play more. I want to see more from him. If I’m thinking positively, he will step up.
But overall, this is not a positive development for the Bruins. Before Lindholm got hurt, he played 22ish minutes, and he’s been very good for them.
Segment Audio
Ryan Beaton is a producer for 985thesportshub.com. You can follow Ryan at @ry_beaton on Twitter.
X/Twitter: @ToucherandHardy | @HardyRadio | @KenGriffeyrules
Instagram: @toucherandhardyofficial | @fredtoucher | @hardy985
Facebook: Toucher & Hardy
For the latest, Visit the show page on 985thesportshub.com. Follow 98.5 the Sports Hub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram! Visit our channel on Youtube!
3 Stars: Bruins pull off biggest comeback yet with win over Blues
Third Star: Morgan Geekie
Nov 12, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) gives up a goal to Boston Bruins center Morgan Geekie (39) during the third period at Enterprise Center. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
A healthy scratch in three straight games, Morgan Geekie was given one hell of a rebound opportunity, with Tuesday coming with Geekie not only thrown back into the lineup, but back in the lineup and to the left of Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak on the B’s top line. And Geekie did not miss his chance to make that opportunity count, with a goal that ultimately sparked Boston’s third-period comeback against Jordan Binnington.
Speaking ahead of Monday’s flight out to St. Louis, Geekie acknowledged that he felt that a lot of what was bugging him (zero goals and two assists in 11 games this season) was more between the ears than anything physically.
This isn’t too dissimilar to his 2023-24, which saw him start slow before really picking things up in late November. But for better or worse, these Bruins aren’t built to deal with another prolonged Geekie dry spell after he emerged as a tremendous middle-six scoring threat for the club a year ago.
In addition to the goal, Geekie finished Tuesday’s win with two hits, a blocked shot, and a plus-2 rating.
Second Star: Charlie McAvoy
Nov 12, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) controls the puck as St. Louis Blues left wing Jake Neighbours (63) defends during the third period at Enterprise Center. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
The Bruins are a better team when Charlie McAvoy shoots the puck. It’s just a fact. And McAvoy gave us another example of that Tuesday, with the game-tying goal that forced the Blues to respect his shot later in the evening when he dished it off to David Pastrnak for the game-winning goal.
What was doubly important about McAvoy’s night is that it felt like his best hockey came after Hampus Lindholm was knocked out of the game with a lower-body injury. The Bruins had to lean on McAvoy, and lean on him hard (with over 25 minutes), and he delivered for the Black and Gold.
They’re gonna need more of that, too.
First Star: David Pastrnak
Nov 12, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) reacts after scoring the game winning goal against the St. Louis Blues during the third period at Enterprise Center. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
Here’s a ‘fun’ stat for you: Of the Bruins’ first six shots in this contest, all six came from David Pastrnak. But it wasn’t until Pastrnak’s final shot of the evening that Boston’s top offensive weapon finally broke through on Jordan Binnington for what captured the win for the Bruins in the third period of this contest.
You could almost see the relief on Pastrnak’s face once that goal crossed over the line and gave No. 88 his first goal since his strike in Boston’s Oct. 26 win over the Maple Leafs. But Pastrnak put his fingerprints all over this game, beginning with the takeaway-and-assist on Morgan Geekie’s third-period strike. And the Bruins downright dominated the puck whenever Pastrnak was out there.
I’ve said it dozens of times before and I’ll say it again: Pastrnak is perhaps the only Bruins player who has that legit ‘takeover’ ability on a nightly basis. His third period felt like that, and the offensively-challenged Bruins are going to need that every single night until the some of the other percentages around the lineup trend upwards.
