Carlo, Nash both knocked out of Bruins win with injuries

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BOSTON – The Bruins put another two points in the storage bank with a decisive 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers at home on Saturday afternoon, but once again it appears the victory has come at a cost to the Black and Gold. Both Brandon Carlo (lower body) and Riley Nash (upper body) were forced out of the game with injuries that both looked like they might have the potential to be fairly significant.

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Nash was hit in the side of the head with a Torey Krug slap shot from the point that knocked him to the ice, and had him understandably rubber-legged as he needed help getting off the ice and back to the Bruins dressing room for repairs.

Carlo was carted off the ice on a stretcher in the third period and taken through the Zamboni door entrance after falling awkwardly on his leg in what looked like it might have been an ankle, or foot, injury. The level of pain that Carlo was in and the fact he needed to be carted off the ice certainly aren’t good signs at all, and it would be a blow to the Bruins if the 21-year-old D-man were to suffer another serious injury right before the playoffs as he did last season as well. 

After the game Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have much of an update on either player, but indicated that the Black and Gold might not have to dip into Providence if either/both players couldn’t suit up on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers. It seemed pretty obvious to anybody watching, given the potential injuries involved, that both wouldn’t be getting on the plane to Philly. 

“I don’t have an update yet. It didn’t look good when [Carlo had to] go off on a stretcher, obviously. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed on that one. [It’s the] same with [Riley] Nash. I know he was getting stitches in his ear. We’ll see how that plays out in terms of whether they travel or not,” said Cassidy. “We’re leaving right after the game, so it’s not an ordinary where we’re leaving…it’s basically right now.

Obviously, [Brian] Gionta was a healthy scratch tonight, so we have an extra forward if Nash is unavailable to play [on Sunday.] 

“If Carlo [can’t play] – Zee [Zdeno Chara] and Charlie [McAvoy] have been skating; we’ll see where they’re at. Otherwise, we go to Providence. They happen to be in Pennsylvania right now, [so that] might be handy. It’s tough luck for Nash and Carlo obviously. [It’s] not what you want right now, but we’ll see how they are.”

With just a handful of games remaining, the No. 1 item on the B’s priority list is staying healthy for the postseason, and that certainly wasn’t how it played out for the Black and Gold on Saturday while they were essentially dealing a death blow to the playoff chances for the Florida Panthers.

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