Forward Patrick Brown and defenseman Patrick Wotherspoon have been called up from AHL Providence as the Boston Bruins face injury adversity.
The Boston Bruins announced Thursday afternoon that forward Pavel Zacha and defenseman Charlie McAvoy have been placed on injured reserve. Forward Patrick Brown and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon have been called up from AHL Providence on an emergency basis.
Brown has played eight games with the Bruins this season and logged one assist, while Wotherspoon has played three games with the Bruins this season and also has one assist.
McAvoy last played on Dec. 7 against the Buffalo Sabres where he left the game early in the third period after taking an elbow to the face from forward JJ Peterka on a reverse hit in front of the Boston bench. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery listed McAvoy as day-to-day with an upper-body injury earlier this week.
Zacha last played Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes and did not return to the bench for the second period after skating a total 6:42 in the opening frame. The first-line center was ruled out with an upper-body injury, and Montgomery said he too was day-to-day.
In Zacha’s absence, Morgan Geekie slotted into the pivot position between Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak Wednesday night against the New Jersey Devils and scored the Bruins’ only goal of the game.
Defensemen Mason Lohrei and Ian Mitchell have both been in the lineup on the backend, filling in for McAvoy and Derek Forbort. Forbort was placed on long-term injured reserve Dec. 7 with a lower-body injury. Prior to the Brown and Wotherspoon call-up, Jesper Boqvist also joined the Bruins from Providence to bolster their forward depth as they deal with injury adversity.
The short-handed Bruins will be back in action Friday against the New York Islanders for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop at UBS Arena.