Torey Krug suffers fractured jaw after being hit in face with puck

Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug is sidelined for the foreseeable future after taking a puck to the face.

The Boston Bruins will be without one of their best defensemen for the remainder of training camp and the start of the season. Torey Krug was struck in the face with a puck in a preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings, resulting in a non-displaced jaw fracture.

The Bruins announced the injury on Twitter and stated that Krug would be reevaluated in three weeks, meaning he is going to miss their season opener on Oct. 5. The team has not stated a timeline for recovery.

However, according to SportsMD.com, “it is recommended that the athlete should not return to contact or collision sports until one to two months after the jaw is unwired.”

Boston will be hoping that the injury is a minor fracture, which can be treated simply with a soft food diet and time. Regardless, this is a loss at a bad time for a team in need of their defensive depth.

The Bruins signed Krug, 26, as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He played NCAA hockey at Michigan State, playing in 114 games for the Spartans over three seasons. During that time he scored 26 goals and added 57 assists.

Krug spent his first professional season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins. He played in 63 games in 2012-13 in the AHL, scoring 13 goals and adding 32 assists. This was enough to catch the attention of the Boston coaching staff.

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Since making the team out of camp in 2013-14, he has played in 319 games for the Bruins. He has scored 38 goals and added 136 to his career totals to go with his 118 penalty minutes in the NHL.

Krug also made the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Bruins on two occasions, in 2012-13 and 2013-14. He has played in 27 playoff games, scoring six goals and adding 10 assists to his total.