It would appear that the Bruins themselves are unsure how long they’ll be without Jeremy Swayman.

Injured in the third period of Tuesday’s contest on a collision with Patrice Bergeron, Swayman was last seen on the ice requiring help from his teammates and not putting any weight on his left leg. After the game, Swayman was spotted in the Boston locker room with ice on his knee but no crutches.

Speaking after the game, B’s head coach Jim Montgomery noted that he did not have an update on Swayman.

But Wednesday may have come with our first inkling as to Swayman’s status for Thursday in New York, as the team recalled Keith Kinkaid from the P-Bruins on an emergency basis.

Signed to be the organization’s No. 3 netminder after two seasons in the Rangers organization, the 33-year-old Kinkaid comes to the Big B’s after four appearances with the P-Bruins, and with a 2-1-1 record and .922 save percentage for Ryan Mougenel’s squad.

The veteran backup was also strong in his limited minutes during the 2022 preseason, with stops on 33-of-35 shots faced (a .943 save percentage) in over 73 minutes of fall tune-up action.

Kinkaid also has a rather extensive NHL resume, with 167 games of NHL work since 2013, along with a 69-58-21 record and .905 save percentage over that run between three different organizations.

The 6-foot-3 Kinkaid made one NHL appearance last year for the Rangers, and stopped 29-of-31 shots thrown his way in a winning effort.

It’s also worth noting that the Bruins scrapped their Wednesday practice following last night’s overtime win over the Penguins, so this isn’t a case of Swayman trying and failing to get on the ice prior to Kinkaid’s call to move from Providence to Boston.

With Kinkaid on his way to the Big B’s, the P-Bruins found themselves down a netminder, and made a call to ECHL Maine and recalled Brandon Bussi from The E to The A.

The 6-foot-4 Bussi, signed by the Bruins following a successful collegiate career at Western Michigan University, has posted three wins and posted a .922 save percentage through four games with the Mariners.

The current plan calls for Bussi to serve as Kyle Keyser’s backup down in Providence.

And if you’re wondering how and where Michael DiPietro, the goaltender the Bruins picked up from Vancouver in the Jack Studnicka exchange last week, fits into this, you’re certainly not alone.

But the initial plan for DiPietro called for the 23-year-old to remain with the Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, but on loan from the Bruins, according to Mark Divver. It’ll be worth wondering if those plans change if Swayman’s injury is anything significant.

But at the NHL level, Swayman’s absence will almost certainly come with a trickle-down effect on Linus Ullmark.

The starter in five of the last six games for the Bruins (and in net for seven of the last eight games overall), the strain on Ullmark appeared evident with an 18-of-23 performance that got him yanked from Tuesday’s start against the Penguins. But when thrown back into the crease following Swayman’s injury, Ullmark stood tall with stops on all 11 saves thrown his way.

If the finish is closer to reality than the start, the Bruins are in decent shape in net.

But the schedule isn’t exactly going to ease up for the Bruins to close out the week — they’ll go against the Rangers at MSG on Thursday night and visit the Leafs on Saturday night — and the Bruins may need to continue to lean on Ullmark for two more high-leverage starts over the next three days.