Bruins will be down another regular for rest of regular season

The Bruins, who are chasing history but not at the risk of their long-term goals this spring and summer, are just under a month away from the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And at this point, they just want to get there in one piece.

But that plan took another lump Tuesday with word that the Bruins don’t expect to see defenseman Derek Forbort back in action until the playoffs.

• Hobbled on a blocked shot off the right ankle late in the second period of last Thursday’s win over the Jets, the 6-foot-3 Forbort was spotted in a walking boot after the win in Winnipeg, and was almost immediately ruled out for the weekend back-to-back in Minnesota and Buffalo.

  And with the Bruins back on the ice Tuesday ahead of a home-ice showdown with the Senators, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery confirmed the word on Forbort.

  “We do not expect [Forbort] back before the end of the regular season,” Montgomery offered, later offering that the team does not expect that Forbort will need surgery.

• 🎥 Coach Montgomery on the status of Derek Forbort's lower-body injury: “We do not expect him back before the end of the regular season...no surgery." pic.twitter.com/BHruUzm1IQ

  — x - Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 21, 2023

• The closest thing the Bruins have to a penalty-killing specialist, Forbort has averaged 3:08 of shorthanded time on ice per game for the Bruins’ league-best penalty kill this season, which is both tied with Brandon Carlo for tops among all Boston skaters and for the 10th-highest nightly average in all of hockey.

  The B’s penalty kill has thrived with the big-bodied Forbort in the lineup, too, with an 88 percent success rate on the kill in games with Forbort in the lineup, compared to a 76.5 percent success rate with Forbort unavailable and/or out of action prior to last Thursday’s injury.

  Forbort has also totaled 106 hits and 88 blocked shots through 54 appearances this season, and his 5.51 blocks per 60 is tops among all Boston defensemen.

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  Feb 25, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort (28) skates between play during the third period against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

• Of course, this could just be the Bruins playing it safe with a player they’re going to rely on as a puck-eating, own-zone killer for what they hope will be four rounds.

  Or Forbort’s availability could be in legitimate jeopardy with the Bruins still figuring out their defensive mix.

  Part of a defensive rotation that’s involved everybody except Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy, Forbort’s departure opens up more minutes for Matt Grzelcyk, Connor Clifton, and maybe even Jakub Zboril. Among that group of three, Clifton is the most likely to see an uptick in his penalty-killing duties with Forbort out of action, especially with his experience in that D-zone deployment and his ability to play both sides.

  The Bruins also entrusted Clifton with back-to-back efforts of at least 18 minutes this past weekend, which Clifton had not done since a three-game stretch of at least 20 minutes back in early January.

  Zboril, meanwhile, skated in Sunday’s game and looked solid in what was his first outing since Feb. 23, and his first night of at least 18 minutes since Nov. 2021.

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  Feb 26, 2022; San Jose, California, USA; Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton (75) and and defenseman Derek Forbort (28) and San Jose Sharks left wing Jeffrey Viel (63) and other players fight at SAP Center at San Jose.  (John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports)

• In the now, however, Forbort joins an injured list that already features wingers Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno, and with the Bruins also hoping to get both of those forwards back for the playoffs. The closest word you’ll get on all three in the now is that they’re lower-body injuries and they’re taking it day-by-day.

  The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin Apr. 17.