After one of their most emotional wins of the early 2025-26 season over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Bruins players were thinking about Charlie McAvoy after the game.
A redirected shot on a Montreal power play jumped up and hit the Bruins defenseman in the face just past the midway point of the second period. He snapped back in pain and tumbled to the ice. The Bruins medical staff immediately hustled to the ice.
He didn’t return after skating off with his face in his hands as Bell Centre staff cleaned blood off the ice.
McAvoy, whose season ended from an injury he suffered at the Bell Centre for Team USA last year during the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, didn’t even skate all the way to the Bruins bench, exiting quickly through the Canadiens tunnel.
“You have to regather yourself after something scary like that. We hope he’s doing all right,“ Mason Lohrei said. ”When you lose a guy like that — he plays everywhere all over the ice — Guys have to fill roles.”
Nikita Zadorov said the Bruins had to shake it off quickly.
“It was definitely emotional when you see your teammate go down like that,” he said. “The game is on, adrenaline is pumping. No time to think about that.”
David Pastrnak admitted to feeling shaken up.
“Every individual handles it differently. The play resumed pretty quickly. For me personally, it was tough going back out there,” he said. “But once the puck dropped, you focus on the play. You keep thinking about Chucky and hope he’s going to be alright.
“Obviously praying for him,” Pastrnak added. “Hopefully everything is going to be fine.”
Marco Sturm said the Bruins talked about rallying around McAvoy during the second intermission.
“We said between periods that we want to do it for him,” Sturm said. “He’s such a big important piece for our team. That means other guys have to step up. That was nice to see.”
McAvoy returned to Boston with the Bruins, according to SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman. His status going forward has yet to be determined. The Bruins host Carolina on Monday.
With McAvoy out, Hampus Lindholm played close to half the game at 27:19 including 5:14 on the penalty kill.
Andrew Peeke’s ice time increased to 22:03. Even with his own 9:00 penalty minutes, Zadorov still played 21:05, including 4:53 against the Canadiens power play.
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