LOS ANGELES -- Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk is expected to miss a month because of hand and lower-body injuries he sustained in the Winter Classic.
DeBrusk, who is second on the Bruins with 16 goals, was put on injured reserve. He did not travel with the team for a three-game California trip.
DeBrusk scored twice in the third period of Boston’s 2-1 win over Pittsburgh at Fenway Park - both goals coming after he apparently sustained the lower-body injury when he was struck by teammate Matt Grzelcyk’s slap shot.
“I did not know that he was actually hurt at all,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I used him in the last minute of play. I was trying to get him his hat trick for the empty net. I did not have any issue or think that there was anything wrong, possibly, with him.”
DeBrusk, 26, has 30 points through 36 games and secured a spot on the top line alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron for the NHL’s top team. Boston has 62 points through 37 games, including a league-leading 24 wins in regulation and a plus-57 goal differential.
“He’s been great for us, scoring big goals,” Boston defenseman Derek Forbort said of DeBrusk. “We’ve got a pretty deep team, though, so I think we’ll be all right.”
David Pastrnak is expected to take DeBrusk’s place on the top line; he leads the Bruins and is tied for sixth in the league with 25 goals.
DeBrusk signed a two-year, $8 million extension in March after having previously requested a trade out of Boston last season. A first-round pick by the Bruins in 2015, he has 108 goals and 98 assists in 357 career games.