The Boston Bruins, already with four defensemen sidelined with injuries, lost captain Zdeno Chara to a lower-body injury in the first period of Wednesday night’s game in Colorado.
The team was already without defensive stalwarts Charlie McAvoy (concussion), Kevan Miller (broken hand) and Brandon Carlo (lower body), as well as rookie Urho Vaakanainen, who sustained a concussion last month after being called up to fill in.
The injuries mean that when the Bruins play Friday in Arizona in the second game of their current road trip, 2015 first-rounder Jakub Zboril could become the third rookie defenseman to make his debut this season along with Vaakanainen and Jeremy Lauzon.
Zboril was called up earlier this week to serve as the extra defenseman on the trip.