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In their fifth straight regulation loss, a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers and their longest such streak since what was a 10-game losing skid in Jan. 2010, the Boston Bruins lost top-four defenseman John-Michael Liles near the end of the second period.
Injured in a corner collision with Garrett Wilson, Liles skated extremely gingerly on his way to the B’s bench, put almost no weight on his right leg, and made his way down to tunnel and did not return.
John-Michael Liles will not travel after suffering an LBI from this hit last night pic.twitter.com/ziLBVnsIzZ
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) March 25, 2016
Liles will not return by the time the puck drops for Saturday’s road tilt in Toronto, either, as the team has announced that Liles will not travel with the club for the Bruins’ near must-win against the Leafs.
The 35-year-old Liles has skated on both the B’s top-pair alongside Zdeno Chara and on the second pair with Dennis Seidenberg during his 12-game stint with the Bruins, has skated on the second power play unit, has tallied two assists and put 12 shots on goal along with 12 hits and 24 blocked shots.
Without Liles, the Bruins will put one of Joe Morrow or Zach Trotman back into the mix -- likely Morrow given his left-shot versus Trotman’s right-handed blast -- in a move that brings back yet another bout of deja vu, with Liles playing the role of the injured Dougie Hamilton a year ago. Of course, Liles has not had nearly the impact Hamilton, who was a top-pairing defenseman for the Black and Gold last year, had for the Bruins, but it’s yet another loss the suddenly sliding B’s have to face.
Against a woeful Leafs club loaded with rookies playing with house money and has won six of their last eight, and with the Bruins holding a mere single point advantage of the Detroit Red Wings (and with the Wings holding a game in hand over the Bruins, too), the concern for yet another collapse is there.
“I wouldn’t take anything from this game,… B’s center David Krejci said after last night’s game and what they can take from it heading into Toronto. “Just forget what happened before and just focus on the next seven games game by game. Like I said we’re not even in the playoffs yet, so just take it game by game and whatever happened in the past happened but we have to look forward here.…
The Bruins have taken three of four from the Maple Leafs this season.
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