Boston Bruins centre David Krejci will miss considerable time following a collision with Senators winger Bobby Ryan during Sunday night’s loss in Ottawa.
The collision came during the second period, and Krejci never came out for the third.
“It was really weird, a simple collision,” Ryan told the Ottawa Citizen. “Shoulder on shoulder. We both kind of braced for it. I actually said, ‘Are you all right?’ Because I heard him do the same thing I did, which was to check if he was OK. Then he veered off and I didn’t see him again, but really a weird play. Just two guys circling into the same ice, the puck was nowhere near us.”
Krejci is being considered week-to-week, and will therefore miss the New Year’s Day showdown with the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium.
Taking Krejci’s spot on the Bruins’ second line with centring Loui Eriksson and Matt Beleskey is 23-year-old Ryan Spooner.
“It’s definitely a huge loss for us,” said Spooner after practice. “He’s a huge player for us. So I think as a team, though, when that kind of thing happens you just get together as a group and you just say that it’s a challenge and you have to accept it, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Bruins have been hit hard up the middle this year with injuries.
Chris Kelly fractured his left femur and will miss the entire season, while Joonas Kemppainen is still out with an upper-body injury of his own suffered on Dec. 7.
But none of those two have the offensive impact of Krejci, who’s scored 442 points in 586 games, all with Boston. He’s currently tied for the team lead in points this year, with 33.
“I don’t think that we have a player that exactly can bring what David brings,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. “But I think there are players that definitely can contribute with their work ethic and commitment, and I think that everybody has to step up. There is only one David Krejci, and nobody’s asking anybody else to copy him.
“We’ve just got to focus on what we can do as a team.”
The Bruins have one more game before the 2016 Winter Classic, hosting the Senators on Tuesday.
