The next few weeks will prove crucial for the Boston Bruins.
Mired in a three-game losing streak, the B’s revealed on Monday that co-leading scorer David Krejci is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Though the nature of the ailment wasn’t revealed, Krejci was seen wearing a slight on his right arm following today’s practice.
The injury means it’s unlikely the 29-year-old will be able to participate in Friday’s Winter Classic against Montreal at Gillette Stadium. Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher are both currently sidelined as well; while Gallagher has hinted at a potential return in time for Jan. 1, Price is almost assuredly out.
But back to Krejci for a moment.
On pace for the best offensive campaign of his 10-year career, Krejci will be nearly impossible to replace. In addition to his offensive production, he also gobbles up ice time (over 20 minutes a night this year, for the first time in his career) and is one of the club’s busiest faceoff men, trailing only Patrice Bergeron.
At Monday’s practice, head coach Claude Julien unveiled what could be the solution in the wake of Krejci’s injury. Bergeron skated between Brad Marchand and Brett Connolly, while Ryan Spooner manned the 2C spot between Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson.
With Spooner moving up, Landon Ferraro -- claimed off waivers from Detroit earlier this month -- played on the third line with Frank Vatrano and Jimmy Hayes.
If there’s a silver lining in all this, it’s that Boston has a relatively mellow schedule coming up. The B’s are off tonight, back in action on Tuesday (against Ottawa), then off ‘til Friday for the Winter Classic.
After that, they’re off for four days -- returning to action on Jan. 5 versus Washington -- before setting off on a tough five-game road swing on Jan.