BOSTON -- Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who injured his right leg during Saturday's 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, will not play Monday night and is listed as day to day, according to coach Claude Julien.
The Bruins host the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden on Monday, but Boychuk was not able to participate in the team's morning skate.
"He didn't skate this morning because he can't," Julien said. "Right now it's too sore, so he's day to day. It's obviously from the incident the other night, so he couldn't skate this morning. He came early and we tried to see if he could, but he couldn't. So we'll go day to day with him."
With 9:27 remaining in the third period Saturday, Boychuk was racing back for the puck behind Boston's net when it appeared Carolina's Patrick Dwyer pushed him. Boychuk crashed feet-first into the end wall and was in obvious pain. He made it to his feet but needed assistance off the ice. He was able to return and finish the game.
X-rays taken on Boychuk were negative but he's still sore.
"There's some damage in there, obviously, when you go in feet-first," Julien said.
With the Bruins adding defensive depth at the trade deadline, Julien has been rotating defensemen. He said he wants to see exactly what the team has on the blue line before the playoffs begin. One of the newcomers, Corey Potter, has not yet made his Bruins debut.
Based on Julien's comments after the team's morning skate, it doesn't appear Potter will play against Monday night.
"I'm sure [he'll play] at some point," Julien said. "We haven't made that decision, yet. There's obviously a spot open in Johnny's case and I'm going to dress seven [for the warmup] tonight. I told them all to come and do the warmup, so that gives me time today to look at what I want to do and make that decision tonight."
Potter said he's ready when called upon.
"I'm just waiting for my opportunity," Potter said. "In the meantime, I'm just going to try to stay positive and work hard off the ice. When that opportunity comes I'm ready to get in there. I'll just wait around and see what happens, I guess."
