BOSTON – It’s debatable how much he’ll be missed in the short term given his recent struggles, but the Bruins will be without Kevan Miller through Thanksgiving with an upper body injury. Miller was injured in the loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night in which he was limited to just a couple of shifts in the third period. He will miss at least the next four games, according to B’s coach Claude Julien.
Miller had a goal and five points, along with a plus-1 rating, in 17 games for the Bruins this season, but has struggled at times to play the top-four role that his 20:11 of ice time per game indicates. That was clear in the loss to the Sharks when he was pulled from the top pairing with Zdeno Chara two shifts into the game after allowing a goal and he nearly gave up another scoring chance when Joe Pavelski dangled right through both players.
So, now a spot will be opened up for Colin Miller in the lineup after he missed the past couple of games with a lower body injury. Miller was healthy enough to play on Tuesday against the Sharks, but certainly derived some benefit from another night of rest to something that was clearly bugging him.
“I think I could have played the other night, but I was just making sure it was good before I [played],” said Colin Miller, who is among the NHL’s leading scorers among rookie D-men with a goal and seven points along with a plus-5 in 14 games. “It was up to Claude what he wanted to do, and that was fine with the team having won the game before. So I now I can come in and hopefully help the team get going.”
The Bruins skipped morning skate entirely on Thursday prior to tonight’s home game against the Minnesota Wild and it appeared Jonas Gustavsson may be getting the start with Tuukka Rask one of the few Bruins actually skating.