Marchand week-to-week with upper-body injury

Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, interim head coach Joe Sacco announced Tuesday.

Marchand is expected to miss the rest of this week and will be re-evaluated next week, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

"Obviously a hard guy to replace," Sacco said. "We're going to miss him, but it creates opportunities for other guys now to step up, some of our younger players, maybe like a (Georgii) Merkulov or a (Matthew) Poitras, it gives them more of an opportunity."

He added: "(Marchand's) disappointed. I think, obviously, any time a player gets injured (and) he's going to miss some time, they're disappointed, so I think that's the first reaction. But he'll be back."

The Bruins entered Tuesday's slate two points outside of a playoff position with a 28-26-8 record and 20 games remaining. They have a 9.4% chance of making the postseason, according to MoneyPuck.

The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets currently occupy the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have played two fewer games than the Bruins.

Marchand suffered the injury after taking a hit from defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph in the first period of Saturday's 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. His head made contact with the boards following the awkward collision and had to be helped off the ice.

The veteran forward subsequently missed Sunday's 1-0 defeat to the Minnesota Wild.

Marchand ranks second on the Bruins with 21 goals and 47 points in 61 contests. He can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer upon the expiry of his eight-year, $49-million deal.

Boston is missing two other key players, defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. The former suffered a shoulder injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off and has no clear timeline to return, while the latter has been sidelined by a lower-body injury since November and will likely miss the remainder of the campaign.

The Bruins have been sputtering out of late - they're among the six worst teams in the league in terms of record (8-11-4) and points percentage (.435) since Jan. 1.

The franchise hasn't missed the playoffs since 2016.