Nick Foligno Forced Out Of Boston Bruins Loss With Injury

The Boston Bruins didn’t have their new-look third line together for very long.

Nick Foligno was forced to exit Wednesday night’s 6-3 Bruins loss in Philadelphia vs. the Flyers in the second period with an upper body injury. The veteran winger skated his final shift with about four minutes to go in the second period and was seen wincing when he came off the ice, per the TNT broadcast of the Eastern Conference matchup.

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

It’s unfortunate given that Foligno is one of the new guys in the Boston Bruins lineup trying to get used to his new teammates and carve out his niche in an established group.

“I’m actually excited about that. It’s a clean slate in a lot of ways,” said Foligno, 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.”

It remains to be seen what the injury is for Foligno, but he did miss time at the end of last season with a “debilitating” back injury after he was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Toronto Maple Leafs down the stretch.

Once Foligno was out of the game, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy began shuffling his forward lines and double-shifted David Pastrnak with the B’s down by a couple of goals throughout the entire third period. The 33-year-old Foligno had an assist in 14:37 of ice time for the Black and Gold in last week’s home opening win against the Dallas Stars, and finished with four shot attempts, a hit and a minus-1 in 8:37 of ice time before being forced to call it a night for the Bruins.