The Bruins' 2-1 overtime win over the Islanders Thursday night was tempered a bit by the fact that they also suffered a key injury during the third period, when defenseman Brandon Carlo left the game after his head hit the glass following a hard hit from Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck.
Carlo staggered and then dropped to the ice, with it certainly looking like he had suffered a head injury. He did not return to the game. Clutterbuck’s hit appeared to be clean, with just an unfortunate result for the Bruins.
After the game, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy provided an update on Carlo, and it was at least a little bit encouraging.
"I talked to him there. I guess I don't know what to say. He said he was feeling pretty good," Cassidy said. "But I don't know what that means relative to the hit he took. I think that's one we have to assess in the morning. We have a day in between obviously, if he can't go, to sort through our options.
"I don't want to rule him out until we see him in the morning and we get a final word from our medical staff. It never looks good when you leave like that. But at the end of the day, he was here talking to his teammates. Maybe he'll be fine. [Craig Smith] came back quick from an injury that we weren't sure on, so hopefully it's good news with Brandon as well."
It's certainly encouraging that Carlo was able to hang around and talk with teammates and coaches, but as Cassidy said, there's still more assessing to be done.
What made the injury even more concerning is that Carlo already has a fairly extensive concussion history, including one suffered just three months ago when Capitals forward Tom Wilson hit him in the head. Carlo missed nearly a month after that hit and said he suffered from blurry vision and some memory loss at the time.
Carlo also suffered a concussion in April 2017 that forced him to miss the Bruins’ playoff series against the Senators, and he likely suffered another last March just before the COVID pause when he got elbowed in the faced by Florida’s Evgenii Dadonov.
The Bruins are already pretty banged up on defense, especially when it comes to depth. Kevan Miller has been out with an upper-body injury (believed to be a concussion) since Game 4 of the first round, and is expected to miss at least one more game as he did not travel with the team.
Steven Kampfer underwent season-ending surgery before the playoffs, and Jakub Zboril continues to work his way back from an injury suffered in the regular-season finale. Either Jarred Tinordi or Urho Vaakanainen would be the most likely next man up if Carlo is out for Game 4.