It seems that all news surrounding the Boston Bruins these days is injury news.
David Pastrnak will miss his second straight game when the Bruins take on the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night at TD Garden, and won’t be the only player absent from the lineup, either. The Bruins placed defenseman Henri Jokiharju on injured reserve and recalled Michael Callahan from AHL Providence on an emergency basis.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 29, 2025
Jokiharju has appeared in 25 games for the Bruins this season, recording six assists.
While both Pastrnak and Jokiharju are definitely out, there is hope that Pavel Zacha will be available. The forward did not play in the Bruins’ 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Black Friday, but is considered a game-time decision tonight while he nurses an upper-body injury.
“With injuries, it’s tricky,” Zacha said. “You want to get back as soon as you can. It was a little unlucky that over the last couple of weeks we’ve been struggling with injuries. It’s hard to watch the games because you can’t help the team. I’m hoping that all of us get healthy as soon as possible.”
McAvoy & Arvidsson Skating Again:
Charlie McAvoy was back on the ice for the first time after undergoing facial surgery last week, skating on his own Saturday morning. McAvoy has missed six games since he was hit in the face by a slap shot on Nov. 15 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Charlie McAvoy skating on Garden ice ahead of team skate. He’s got the shield as well as jaw protection pic.twitter.com/40FUhGfpUJ
— steve conroy (@conroyherald) November 29, 2025
There is still no definitive timeline for McAvoy’s return to action, but reports suggest it will be before the Olympic break in February.
Viktor Arvidsson was also back on the ice and partook in the Bruins’ full-squad workout, but will not in the lineup against Detroit while he continues to rehab a lower-body injury.
“We’ll see when I can start playing,” said Arvidsson. “There’s not a lot of practice time, so today felt like a good day to get out there. I thought I could handle some speed and stuff. It was good to have other guys out there and feel that.”
Injury Influx:
Injuries are of course inevitable every season, but this season in particular they’ve been much more frequent.
Perhaps that’s because so too are games.
Due to the NHL condensing its schedule for the Olympics, the Bruins have already played 26 games this year, with very few off days in between.
“It’s been hectic, and we’ve played 25 games already,” Arivdsson said. “With a long training camp and then going into a season where there are a lot of games before the break there in February, there are a lot of teams facing adversity, and we’re one of them. You just got to try to stay as consistent as we can. Through everything, we just got to keep playing.”
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