David Krejci out 4-6 weeks; will Boston Bruins push panic button?

There are roughly seven weeks left in the NHL regular season. David Krejci of the Boston Bruins could be lost for six of them.

The Bruins announced on Monday that Krejci will miss 4-6 weeks with a partially torn MCL in his left knee, an injury he suffered in a collision with Alex Steen of the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 20.

Krejci has 26 points in 38 games this season, skating to a plus-7. He has seven points on the power play and skates 18:06 per game, which is second among Boston forwards.

Obviously this affects Milan Lucic’s effectiveness in a significant way. This season, his goals-per-60-minutes at even strength drops from 2.70 with Krejci (443:53 TOI) to 2.31 without him (388:54) on the ice. His Corsi-for (5v5) drops from a 52.3 to 49.8 percent.

The Bruins are currently three points up on the Florida Panthers (both have 59 games played) and four points up on the Philadelphia Flyers (60 games). The pressure was already on GM Peter Chiarelli to make moves to solidify that wild card spot. Minus Krejci for at least the next month, he might have to get a little more aggressive with help up front (and will have some cap relief to do it, with Krejci on IR).

The only way the Panthers or Flyers are making the playoffs is if the Bruins falter. Losing one of their top two centers to injury increases the chances they might … unless a young reinforcement like Ryan Spooner steps up or management stops the bleeding with a deal.

What do the Bruins do?

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