Foligno Out For Bruins vs. Sabres And Doubtful vs. Sharks (Sunday)

Boston Bruins winger Nick Foligno will not play against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in Buffalo and is doubtful for his team’s tilt against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon in Boston.

Foligno suffered an upper-body injury in the second period of the 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.

“Upper body. He just pulled something,” Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said following the loss. “Hopefully nothing serious, but wasn’t able to return. That’s never a good sign, so we’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

Unfortunately, according to Cassidy on Thursday, the injury was serious enough to already rule him out for Friday and likely Sunday too.

“He’s out [Friday] and when we get back to Boston, he’ll get reevaluated,” Cassidy said after practice Thursday. “So, we’ll put him as day-to-day right now until we get an update. …Saturday, I guess we’ll see, so we’ll know by Sunday but I suspect, he’ll miss Sunday as well, but we know for sure, he’s out tomorrow.”

🎥 Coach Cassidy provides the latest updates on Nick Foligno and Craig Smith and looks ahead to Linus Ullmark's #NHLBruins debut in Buffalo: pic.twitter.com/x04KJFXqWv

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 21, 2021

The 33-year-old veteran winger signed a two-year contract that carries a $3.8 million cap hit this past offseason. In two games this season, Foligno has one assist. The former Columbus Blue Jackets captain has fit into the Bruins’ tight-knit dressing room and veteran leadership core nicely and was starting to find chemistry with winger Jake DeBrusk and center Erik Haula on the third line for the Boston Bruins.

“I’m actually excited about that. It’s a clean slate in a lot of ways,” Foligno said, prior to the start of the season after joining the Bruins where he’s done a nice job showing some veteran guidance to linemate Jake DeBrusk. “I know what I bring and what I can help with on this team but at the end of the day, it’s where I’m fitting. I’ve learned that as I’ve gone on.

“If we’re gonna try to be as good a team as we expect to be then everyone is gonna slot in and find their role, and the teams that find it early enough usually have that success sustained all year long. I’m another cog in the wheel of trying to find that. I’m excited about finding my place on this team and where I’m gonna fit best.”

This is the Bruins’ first game against the Sabres this season and despite the fact the Sabres carry a surprising 3-0-0 record into the Atlantic Division tilt, as of Thursday afternoon, the 1-1-0 Bruins  -195 favorites on the NHL betting odds lines.

Here’s what the forward lines looked like at practice Thursday:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall-Charlie Coyle-Craig Smith

Jake DeBrusk- Erik Haula-Karson Kuhlman

Anton Blidh-Trent Frederic- Tomas Nosek