Tough day for the city of Arizona and the Coyotes fans. Why? The fear turned into a reality. Clayton Keller is out for the season after he was taken from the Arizona Coyotes game on a stretcher with a broken leg sustained in the third period against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.
The Coyotes said he had surgery after the game. Keller could make a full recovery in 4-6 months. Keller was injured with 5:15 remaining after falling and hitting the end boards’ legs first. He was trying to get off a shot while being defended by Nicolas Meloche.
It’s a devastating blow for the Coyotes not to have one of their best players on the ice. Keller leads the Coyotes with 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists) in 66 games.
The Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils will face off tonight. Although the Devils have been struggling this season, they can put up a competitive fight against one of the best teams in the league. In sports, any team can beat another team on any given night. Boston’s forward lines also contain two changes. Craig Smith will miss the game due to illness. Marc McLaughlin will make his NHL debut and fill in for Smith as right-wing on the third line. Nick Foligno will sit out due to a lower-body injury. Anton Blidh will replace him as fourth-line left wing.
Linus Ullmark will start as Bruins goaltender, with Jeremy Swayman as his backup.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Bruins-Devils:
BOSTON BRUINS (41-20-5)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall–Erik Haula–David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic–Charlie Coyle–Marc McLaughlin
Anton Blidh–Tomas Nosek–Curtis Lazar
Hampus Lindholm–Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk–Brandon Carlo
Mike Reilly–Josh Brown
Linus Ullmark
NEW JERSEY DEVILS (24-37-5)
Yegor Sharangovich–Jack Hughes–Dawson Mercer
Tomas Tatar–Nico Hischier–Jesper Bratt
Andreas Johnsson–Jesper Boqvist–Miles Wood
Jimmy Vesey–Michael McLeod–Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler–Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves–Damon Severson
Ty Smith–P.K. Subban
