Bruins lose defenseman Adam McQuaid for 6-8 weeks

The Boston Bruins learned on Wednesday that defenseman Adam McQuaid will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb.

For a minute there it almost looked like the Hockey Gods had tired of wreaking havoc on Boston's battered defense corps.

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Clearly they had a little more mischief in mind.

The Bruins learned on Wednesday that defenseman Adam McQuaid will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb. The veteran blueliner was injured early in the second period of Tuesday's 2-0 win over St. Louis when he absorbed the brunt of a Kevin Shattenkirk slapper with his hand

McQuaid becomes the latest in a long line of Boston defensemen who have spent time on IR this season. In a span of just three weeks, the team lost Kevan Miller (dislocated shoulder), Zdeno Chara (knee), Torey Krug (broken finger) and David Warsofsky (groin).

Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Seidenberg are now the only two Bruins blueliners who've managed to stay healthy enough to play in all 20 of Boston's games this season. Of course, we probably just jinxed that ...

There is some good news, though: Miller was healthy enough to take part in Tuesday's pre-game skate. He could be back in the lineup later this week.