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Brad Marchand injured in exhibition loss to Blue Jackets |
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The Bruins are certainly thankful for the one exhibition game they were awarded before things kick off for real on Sunday.
The Bruins showed some serious rust in the first period of Thursday’s 4-1 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night in Toronto, falling behind 3-0 thanks to three first period goals by the Jackets.
The Bruins seemed to shake things off in the second and third periods, picking up their lone tally from David Pastrnak.
Heading into the contest the Bruins biggest goal was to come out of it completely healthy, something they failed to achieve.
Marchand suffered what looked like a lower-body injury in the third period and did not return for the final 11 minutes of the period.
Following the contest Thursday night, head coach Bruce Cassidy revealed he does not believe the injury is serious and that Marchand would be reevaluated Friday morning. Friday was a scheduled off day for the Bruins.
Addressing the media via zoom on Friday, team president Cam Neely did not have an update on Marchand’s status.
“Obviously, health is very important to the club, and I think we have enough bodies here, but we want to have the lineup that we feel is gonna give us the best chance to win,” Neely said. “We want to try to practice with that lineup obviously and we want to make sure we’re continuing to improve every day.
In Marchand’s absence, both Karson Kuhlman and Anders Bjork got looks to the left of Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.
*Other thoughts from the Bruins exhibition contest
Jack Studnicka looked like he belonged
Skating on the Bruins second line with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci, I was impressed with what we saw from the 21-year old Studnicka. Earlier this week Cassidy referenced that Studnicka seems more comfortable this time around, something Studnicka himself confirmed. You could see that confidence in Studnicka’s game as he used his speed to generate scoring chances and make plays happen.
"He was good. He got a couple of looks, he was on pucks. He tried to make plays, tried to recover pucks. The shooting versus passing, we're going to have to live with that for a while until he learns the league, what he can get away with,” said Cassidy.
“I liked his initiative. A couple of soft backhand plays. Again, a lot of young guys, those aren't going to happen in this league. Sticks are too good. But certainly, he had some of our better chances. I thought he played well."
Both Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak will see round-robin action
While Rask got the start, Halak came off the bench midway through the second period, a planned change for Cassidy. Although Rask allowed three of the Blue Jackets four goals, I didn’t think either goalie stuck out more than the other.
I thought the Bruins were sloppy defensively, especially in the first period, leading to some tough saves for both. Rask will get the start Sunday against the Flyers, but Cassidy says we should expect to see Halak at some point soon.
“Tuukka is going to start the Philly game, and from there like I said, we're going to use both. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself,” said Cassidy. “Lets see how Tuukka does Sunday, how he feels coming out of that game. We'll make the decision who goes against Tampa."
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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