BOSTON - Steven Kampfer suffered a left knee injury during the third period of the Boston Bruins' 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in their home preseason finale on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Kampfer, who is scheduled to have an MRI on Friday, gave fans and coaches a scare near the midway point of the third period, colliding with Ottawa Senators defenseman Jared Cowen and falling to the ice. Kampfer was tended to by the Bruins' medical staff and was helped off the ice by his teammates.
"He suffered a knee injury, left knee, and that's basically all we have right now for specific detail," said Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien after the game. "He's going to have an MRI tomorrow, so we'll find out a little bit more on his condition."
Kampfer, a second-year defenseman, played in 38 games for the Bruins last season and registered five goals and five assists for ten points. In addition, Kampfer had a plus/minus of plus-nine and had 12 penalty minutes. Kampfer is currently locked in a battle with Matt Bartkowski for the team's seventh and final spot on defense.
"I don't know if it settles it," Julien said about Kampfer's injury affecting his battle with Bartkowski. "We'll find out tomorrow how sever it is - is he going to be two months or is he only going to be a few weeks, and if it is, there can still be a battle going on there."
Kampfer and Bartkowski both performed well against the Senators in the eyes of Julien. Kamper recorded just under 15 minutes of ice time while Bartkowski was on the ice for nearly 18 minutes. Neither had a point.
"They're both pretty good," Julien said. "Actually, you know, I thought Kampfer was having a real good night and skating and moving the puck and Bart is still there. There's some things that I think [Bartkowski] has to continue to work on and he's got good size, he's a solid skater, but you know, every once in a while he gets caught with maybe not moving the puck quick enough and those are just little things that he has to continue to work on but having said that I like both their games."
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