Life has been frustrating for the Boston Bruins lately, and the first period of Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres held true to that pattern.
For one thing, the Sabres generated a 2-0 lead and 16-9 shot advantage against the Bruins.
That’s a smaller concern than the health of forward David Backes, however. It’s too early to tell if he suffered an injury via this hard hit by William Carrier. Video of the hit is avaliable above, but you can also watch the check from a couple angles in GIF form:
William Carrier drills David Backes with a check to the head. pic.twitter.com/z1S4jQUp4g
— Marina Maher (@marinakmaher) December 30, 2016
Carrier received a penalty for illegal hit to the head on the play.
Later on, it was quite the scene as officials tried to keep Adam McQuaid and Carrier apart:
Update: The bad news for Boston is that Backes did not return. The good news for the Bruins is that they scored four unanswered goals to win 4-2.