Bruins Notebook: Peeke lost 'week-to-week' with hand injury

BRIGHTON – The worst fears from Monday night’s Game 2 loss were confirmed on Tuesday as rugged defenseman Andrew Peeke will be lost for an undetermined period of time with a hand injury after getting hit with a puck.

Peeke exited the second period of Monday night’s 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs and is considered “week-to-week” with the injury that will keep him from making the road trip to Toronto for Games 3 and 4. It’s a significant blow to a Bruins back end that gained stiffness and physicality when the 26-year-old Peeke was brought on from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the NHL trade deadline.

“Week-to-week and won’t be on the trip,” said Jim Montgomery when asked for a Peeke update. “It is a tough blow because he’s been really good for us. But we’ve played all year and every defensemen that’s on the trip – Lohrei, Wotherspoon – they’ve played really good hockey for us. It’s a position of strength, the depth on this club.”

To Montgomery’s point, the Bruins called up rookie Mason Lohrei from Providence in a corresponding move to the news about the Peeke injury.

“His poise with the puck, his ability to find middle ice, his ability to make plays in the offensive zone is something that we're going to possibly look at for next game,” said Montgomery of Lohrei, who logged time with the P-Bruins last weekend. “And also, his willingness to go back for pucks is a strength.”

But it’s expected that Parker Wotherspoon will slide into the spot vacated by Peeke’s injury and get his first action of the Stanley Cup playoffs after serving as a healthy scratch for the first two games.

Wotherspoon finished with eight assists and a plus-6 in 41 games with the Black and Gold this season while filling a role as a hardnosed bottom pair defensemen capable of killing penalties and battling in the defensive zone. Montgomery deployed Wotherspoon and Peeke as a nasty, physical shutdown pair against Florida in one of the final regular season games and they did a very good job battling with a line that included tough customers Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett.

Derek Forbort will also make the trip to Toronto after a couple of AHL conditioning games with the Providence Bruins last weekend, but Montgomery indicated he won’t be an option while still getting up to speed at practice with the rest of the NHL group.

“That’s the playoffs. It’s not a team of just the guys out there…we have a whole organization here and everyone here has full confidence in all of the players that put that Bruins jersey on,” said Hampus Lindholm. “That’s just the way it works this time of year, so it’s going to be somebody else stepping up.”

ONE-TIMERS

*Montgomery said it was part breakdown and part NHL superstar making a play on the game-winning goal for Auston Matthews in Game 2 where he gloved a lobbed stretch pass into a breakaway score. It was Charlie McAvoy that allowed Matthews to get the ice behind him leading to the third period strike.