“He’s a machine. I knew he would come back.”

Brad Marchand slammed into the boards during Saturday’s loss to the Ducks. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
The 2024-25 Bruins are already staring at an uphill climb back into playoff positioning.

The sting of the injury bug isn’t making that endeavor any easier.

Boston is currently trudging forward without its two top defensemen, with no timeline mapped out for either Charlie McAvoy or Hampus Lindholm’s return.

McAvoy’s status remains unclear after being released from the hospital earlier this week during the 4 Nations Face-off tournament. The physical blueliner was sidelined during tournament play in order to treat an infection in his right shoulder, as well as address what the Bruins termed as a “significant” injury to his AC joint.

While McAvoy could be on the mend for some time moving forward, Lindholm was initially expected to be back on the ice coming out of the NHL’s two-week break from regular-season action.

But that initial sense of optimism from Joe Sacco seems to have dissipated in regards to the Swedish defenseman’s availability. The Bruins have skated four times since returning from break, with Lindholm not participating in any group work during that stretch.

Sacco noted earlier this week Lindholm has not suffered any setback in his recovery from a knee injury that has kept him out of game action since Nov. 12. But any hope of Lindholm giving Boston’s beleaguered blue line a boost out of the break seems to have been put on hold.

Amid Boston’s woes on defense, the team was potentially dealt a devastating development during Saturday’s eventual 3-2 overtime loss to the Ducks.

Early in the third period, Bruins captain Brad Marchand lost an edge and hit the ice — eventually sliding hard into the boards by the Ducks’ bench. Marchand slammed the back of his head into the boards during the collision, with officials whistling the play dead as Marchand struggled to get back on his skates.

Marchand initially remained on Boston’s bench while receiving treatment, but was later pulled from the game and sent down the tunnel.

Another injury, especially to one of the few top-six talents on Boston’s roster in Marchand, would have stood just the latest setback to a Bruins roster already taking on water.

But Marchand eventually returned to the ice for the final minutes of regulation — recording a secondary assist on Morgan Geekie’s equalizer with 1:11 in the period.

Speaking after the OT loss, Marchand acknowledged that he was pulled as part of the mandatory protocol with concussion spotters, but received the green light to return to action.

Marchand finished the game with 19:07 of ice time and that one helper — just two days removed from helping Team Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off at TD Garden.

“He’s a machine. I knew he would come back,” Elias Lindholm said of Marchand’s return. “Obviously, you never know. It’s scary when you have to go into the protocol, you never know.

“But he’s a tough, tough guy. And it was good to see him back, and obviously he had some good shifts there at the end. So it was good seeing him back, for sure.”

While Marchand seems to have dodged a major injury, the Bruins still have no set timeline for when reinforcements are due on the back end with McAvoy and Lindholm.

“Everybody needs to step up, that’s just the way it is right now,” Sacco said Saturday morning. “We’ve played without Lindy for a long time now, Charlie’s missed some games leading up to the break there, missed about seven games. We were able to hold our own, we did a decent job.

“It’s just about the group sticking together and really trying to elevate or just take on a little bit more responsibility. When you have [Brandon] Carlo and [Nikita] Zadorov, two veteran guys, you’re going to lean on those guys a little bit more in those situations. We need a collective effort from everybody.”

Even though Boston managed to scrape a point out of Saturday’s result, Marchand acknowledged that a desperate Bruins roster needs to start cashing in on results if they want to be playing hockey into late April and May.

“The biggest thing is you have to take it day by day,” Marchand said. “You can’t start looking ahead. Every game is important. Every point is important. Obviously, we know that we’re in a dogfight here to the end.

“So it’s just about coming to the rink every day, excited about the opportunity, and trying to be excited about working our way to the final end there and doing the job. It’s not gonna be perfect all the way through, but we have to continue to come in and try to be better each day and give ourselves the best opportunity here.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.