The Boston Bruins will look to stave off elimination in Game 5 vs. the Florida Panthers on Tuesday evening, but will need to do so without captain Brad Marchand.
Marchand, who missed Game 4 with an upper body injury, will be forced to watch from the press box once again after taking a hit from forward Sam Bennett in Game 3. While he’s still considered day-to-day, the odds of him returning to the series don’t look great at the moment.
“[Marchand] is not an option,” Bruins’ coach Jim Montgomery said after his team’s morning skate.
Although the 36 year old was able to suit up for a portion of the team’s skate around, he left the ice prior to special teams work and wasn’t available for comment. Despite being sidelined, Marchand continues to lead the Bruins with 10 points (3G, 7A) across 10 postseason contests in 2023-24.
“Brad skated today. He’ll travel with the team,” GM Don Sweeney said at a press conference Monday before the team departed for Florida. “He’s still day to day. When asked if Marchand is trending in the right direction, Sweeney simply responded, “Yep.”
The Bruins now have a massive hill to climb if they hope to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Throughout their storied history, Boston has never come back to win a series after trailing 3 games to 1, having gone 0 for 25 when faced with the deficit.
Game 5 takes place in Sunrise, Florida at 7pm ET Tuesday evening.
Photo: Sarah Connors. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.