Lindholm last Thursday, playing his second game in as many nights, exited the lineup after skating only a half-dozen shifts (4:26 ice time) against the Blackhawks in the first game at TD Garden this season.
He said that it was not a contact play or a blocked shot that knocked him out of the lineup, but rather a “grabbing” sensation in one of his legs that he felt might have been triggered by too much skating too soon after missing most of last season due to a fractured left kneecap.
“I kind of overextended myself a little bit and kind of slid while doing it,” he mused, “and just got some grabbing, I think from a lot of skating coming back (after the injury) and stuff … my body getting used to it in back-to-back [games]. It’s just the way it is. Sometimes you have a little bad luck, too.”
Whenever Lindholm makes it back, coach Marco Sturm will have to determine who to pull from the backline six-pack. The obvious choice would be Harris, who drew into the lineup for the two games Lindholm was sidelined.
Sturm said Wednesday that he hasn’t thought that far ahead in regard to lineup “what ifs”, but he made clear that he liked what he saw of Harris in the last two games.
Harris logged 24:48 in ice time over the two games and on Monday, in a 4-3 loss to the Lightning at the Garden, scored what stands as the lone goal by a Bruins blue liner so far this season. His play has been simple, decisive, and virtually error-free.
“Absolutely,” affirmed Sturm. “He played great, not just scoring the goal, but he kept it real simple and stayed out of trouble.
“I’m a guy who looks a lot at chances for and against, and he’s really in none of [the chances against], so for me, that’s always a good start. If you look at him, the way he can skate, too, even with his size, the way he uses his stick, he was very good”
With that as context, Lindholm’s return could lead to someone other than Harris getting a night off, be it Mason Lohrei or Peeke. Like Harris, Lohrei is a left shot. Moving out Peeke, who is a right shot, could cause some left-right pairing issues, with either Lohrei or Harris forced to play their “off” side.
His power play stymied (0 for 9) over that last two games (Buffalo and Tampa Bay), Marco Sturm did not alter the look of PP1 or PP2 during the workout. Monday’s loss — a game that a healthy power play could have translated to a point or two in the standings — saw the Bruins go 0 for 5 during 7:39 on the man advantage.
“Not at all,” said Sturm, asked if he is getting antsy about the power-play units’ lack of pop. “It’s a working process and we know we have to get rid of some habits, and it’s not going to work overnight. You’ve got to repeat those kind of things daily. I am not worried at all. But we need the power play, not just to get us going, but to help us to win hockey games.
“The way we structure it, I think our five-on-five play will be solid … special teams, again, like the other night [against the Lightning], it could be the difference. It’s a tight league. It’s a hard league, and those moments and those minutes, you have to come up big.”
Jeremy Swayman, on the bench as Joonas Korpisalo’s second on Monday, is expected to get the nod in net vs. the Golden Knights, setting up a Swayman-Korpisalo split of duty vs. the Avalanche (Saturday) and the Mammoth (Sunday) . . . The Bruins’ seven defensemen who have dressed through four games have landed 29 shots, led by top power-play unit quarterback Charlie McAvoy (9). Jordan Harris, who also leads the backliners in points (1-1–2), landed four shots on net in his two games . . . Elias Lindholm owns the two goals the Bruins have scored on the power play, which as of Wednesday morning ranked 23rd in the league (2-for-16, 12.5 percent) . . . The Golden Knights and the Bruins have been at the top of the charts for faceoff wins in the early going. As of Wednesday morning, Vegas ranked second in the league with a 58.5 percent win rate, followed by the Bruins (57.4) at No. 3. The Senators (65.3 percent) owned the category. On Monday, the Bruins won 68 percent of the drops against the Lightning, led by a red-hot Lindholm, who has dominated the faceoff dot so far (17 for 24/71 percent).
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.
