Brad Marchand is week to week for the Boston Bruins because of an upper-body injury.
The forward and Bruins captain was helped off the ice early in the first period of a 3-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday after a hit by Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph on a power play at 5:52, falling face-first into the boards. Marchand remained down for several minutes before being partially carried to the locker room by teammate David Pastrnak and a trainer.
"Obviously a hard guy to replace," Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said Tuesday. "We're going to miss him, but it creates opportunities for other guys now to step up, some of our younger players, maybe like a (Georgii) Merkulov or a (Matthew) Poitras, it gives them more of an opportunity."
Marchand did not play Sunday but did travel with the team for its 1-0 loss at the Minnesota Wild. Marchand ranks second on the Bruins with 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 61 games this season, his 16th in the NHL.
"It's strange, I mean a guy who since the moment I got here (in 2016) has had a big role with this group, with this team and this organization," defenseman Brandon Carlo said. "We have so much respect for him and the way he does carry himself. Even though he is injured, he's still going to being a component of that.
"Coming into the rink today, just having his personally around the room is very helpful. But on the ice, definitely a big missing component that we need. Right now, we're just going to have that next-man-up mentality and go from there."
The Bruins (28-27-8) are two points behind the New York Rangers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"He's disappointed," Sacco said. "I think obviously any time a player gets injured (and) he's going to miss some time, they're disappointed, so I think that's the first reaction but he'll be back."
