Jim Montgomery Has ‘No Bad News’ On Injured Bruins Players

The Bruins have been bitten by the injury bug of late, but head coach Jim Montgomery had good news on the injured Boston players.

Derek Forbort, Linus Ullmark, Craig Smith and Trent Frederic all are dealing with injuries, with Forbort landing on long-term injured reserve with a broken finger he underwent surgery on. The soonest the defenseman could return is Nov. 29 when the Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it sounds like he won’t be ready by then, but is getting very close to a return.

Montgomery told reporters that he’d “be shocked” if Forbort doesn’t play in Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.

The defense and the penalty kill certainly will welcome Forbort back with open arms given how much the PK has struggled since he went down with injury.

As for the rest of the injured players, there’s been no bad news.

“On everybody, it’s day to day,” Montgomery told reporters after Saturday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “No one has received bad news, which is good. But how quickly they’re going to be back, we don’t know.”

Both Smith and Ullmark left Friday’s thrilling 3-2 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes with upper-body injuries. Montgomery noted after the game that Ullmark had full range of motion, but the goalie was a bit concerned because he never had dealt with something like this before.

Still, it’s encouraging to know he’s feeling better.

Should Ullmark be unable to suit up for Tuesday’s game, the Bruins could recall Keith Kinkaid from Providence, who made one start in Jeremy Swayman’s absence and impressed between the pipes. But Montgomery doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself just yet.

“We’re gonna see Monday how (Ullmark) feels,” Montgomery told reporters. “We can always call (Kinkaid) up for Tuesday.”

The Bruins, who made NHL history with Friday’s win, look to make it 13 straight wins on home ice Tuesday when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to TD Garden for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop.