The Boston Bruins will get defensemen Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort back into the lineup when they host the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Saturday night. The Bruins will also get rookie center Matthew Poitras back.
In order to activate both Forbort and Carlo off of injured reserve, the Boston Bruins sent rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei and rookie center John Beecher back to the American Hockey League and the Providence Bruins.
Following the game-day skate on Saturday morning, Brandon Carlo revealed that he did indeed suffer his fifth concussion when he left in the second period of the Bruins’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 8. The latest one was simply bad luck according to Carlo.
“I feel like even within my game, I haven’t been taking as big of hits or putting myself in vulnerable positions,” Carlo said. “This one was fluky. I kind of just ran into an elbow, and then from there, I got nauseous after I ended up going back to the locker room, and I threw up. Obviously, I’ve been through this before, so it’s something that I take seriously. It’s hard at times because, in the moment you can start to feel really good, but you still got to pay attention to the little things and the little symptoms that are still lingering. And from there, I got to focus also a lot with my history with concussions, just the future of it.”
Carlo, who missed the last five games, said he has passed all the necessary checkpoints and is ready to go.
“I wouldn’t put myself in this position if I didn’t feel fully confident to be out there and playing to my abilities,” the 6-foot-5, 217-pound rearguard said. “So, I still feel very comfortable playing this game and joining it to the best of my ability. And that helps me recognize even more that each game, each day is a blessing. I’m just grateful to be here.”
Here’s a guess on what the lineup could look like for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night:
Forwards
Brad Marchand-Charlie Coyle-David Pastrnak
Pavel Zacha-Morgan Geekie-Jake DeBrusk
James van Riemsdyk-Matthew Poitras-Trent Frederic
Jakub Lauko-Jesper Boqvist-Danton Heinen
Defensemen
Matt Grzelcyk-Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort-Kevin Shattenkirk
Goalies
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
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