Bruins lose Savard for at least 4 weeks

The Boston Bruins are quickly finding out it isn't last season anymore, announcing on Wednesday that offensive sparkplug Marc Savard is out from four to six weeks with a broken left foot.

Savard, who was leading the team with four goals and seven points, was placed on long-term injured reserve.

It's the latest blow for the Bruins, who are without power forward Milan Lucic for a few weeks due to a broken finger. Defenceman Dennis Wideman has also been hobbled by injury.

The injuries have helped contribute to a disappointing 3-4 start for last season's Eastern Conference champions.

The loss of Savard will certainly be felt, since the centre set up 200 goals for Boston over the previous three seasons, while adding 62 goals himself.

The Bruins opted to sign David Krejci ahead of Phil Kessel in the summer, but the Czech forward has just three assists in seven games. Kessel was traded to Toronto for draft picks.

The Bruins have been adjusting their forward corps in recent days to deal with the instability. They traded Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota, acquired Daniel Paille from Buffalo, and called up Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka from their Providence affiliate in the American Hockey League.

Trent Whitfield, who was impressive in pre-season, was brought up on Wednesday from Providence, and leads the AHL squad in scoring this year, with four goals andthree assists in seven games.