Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com: Boston Bruins forward David Krejci missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Coach Jim Montgomery doesn’t think “he’s a real option for Game 5.”
Forward Patrice Bergeron will “likely” return for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Kyle Fredrickson: Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said that forward Valeri Nichushkin was away from the team for “personal reasons” and didn’t have any further updates.
He wasn’t with the team for their morning skate yesterday.
- Kyle Fredrickson: There is no timetable on when Nichushkin could return to the team.
Jesse Montano: Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson and forward Darren Helm were on the ice yesterday.
Amalie Benjamin: Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad missed yesterday’s game (with an upper-body injury).
TSN: Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek missed Game 4 yesterday and coach Dean Evason didn’t have a timeline for when he could return.
Eriksson Ek returned for Game 3 but was only on the ice for one shift. The Wild wouldn’t say if it’s the same injury or something different. Evason did wonder if he had pushed himself harder in the game than when he’d been practicing.
Luke Fox: Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper said that defenseman Erik Cernak won’t play in Game 4. They haven’t ruled him out of the series.
Chris Krenn: Lightning coach Cooper on what happened to Brayden Point in Game 3 and his status ahead of Game 4.
“Well, it looked awful. Morgan, I know him personally. He’s a super, super human being. He’s got a great family. He’s not a dirty player. Was the incident reckless? For sure. And it looked awful.
Anytime, regardless of if it’s Brayden Point or whoever, that’s a tough, tough visual. He comes off. Naturally, because he is such a tough kid, when you see that, you’re thinking the worst. So many precautions went on. The fact that he came back and played, I was amazed in (that) itself.
But he went through so many different tests, and he was struggling. There’s no doubt about it. I haven’t seen him yet , so I don’t know how he’s going to feel. But, I don’t know, it looked like he was in a car accident, the way he went into that wall. Really scary situation. Hopefully, he’s going to be OK to play .
John Lu: Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers skated with the healthy scratches yesterday and will be re-assessed today. He will need to get medical clearance before being able to return.