Brad Marchand helped off the ice after hit from P.O. Joseph.

The Boston Bruins may very well have just lost their captain for some time.

On Saturday afternoon, during an early game between the aforementioned Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bruins forward Brad Marchand appeared to suffer a serious injury following a hit from Penguins defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

The incident would occur very early on in the game, with less than 6 minutes having expired off the game clock in the game's very first period, when Marchand went to retrieve the puck in the corner in the offensive zone during the course of a Bruins powerplay.

Marchand would get to the puck first but following closely behind was Joseph who would drive Marchand into the boards, causing him to fall awkwardly and possibly even hit his head on the side of the boards as he went down. Whatever the case, it was clear that something bad had transpired as Marchand would end up sprawled out on the ice and didn't move for several long moments.

Even when Marchand did manage to move again it would be a long time before he would get back to his feet and make his way off the ice, something that he was unable to do under his own power. It took both a member of the training staff and a fellow teammate to help get Marchand back to the Bruins bench, and to no one's surprise he went straight back into the locker room.

I do not expect Marchand will return to tonight's game.