Bruins Johnny Boychuk Hospitalized after Slapshot to Head

February 6, 2010 -- The Boston Bruins probably would have felt bad enough leaving for a road trip having just lost their 10th straight in a row. But on Saturday afternoon they happened to lose more than that: Defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

Boychuk was in front of the Bruins' net around the 8 minute mark when Vancouver's Mikael Samuelsson put a knuckling slapshot towards the goal and struck Boychuk on the left side of his face, near his eye. 

Boychuk remained down in the Bruins crease for several minutes, bleeding heavily from the area around his left eye before being helped off the ice by teammates Zdeno Chara and Blake Wheeeler and then led to the locker room.

The Bruins said Boychuk was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and would not make the trip to Montreal for Sunday's game against the Canadians.  Bruins' Head Coach Claude Julien told reporters after the game that defenseman Andrew Ferrence may take Boychuk's place in the line up.  Ferrence hasn't played since January 5th because of a groin injury but has practiced this past week.