Wild's Charlie Coyle stays behind, misses annual game to hometown

BOSTON – Even Monday, some of Charlie Coyle's friends still hadn't heard he wouldn't be making his yearly trip to TD Garden.

"I got texts from some people, thinking I'm still playing,'' the Wild forward said. "I had to break the news to them.''

The news, now more than three weeks old, was that Coyle broke his right fibula Oct. 12 at Chicago. He still has another three to five weeks to go before he will be ready to resume play. That meant the native of East Weymouth, Mass., who grew up watching the Bruins on TV, had to cheer from the couch again when the Wild played at Boston on Monday — though this time, he was rooting for the opponent.

"I'd love to be in Boston right now,'' said Coyle, who usually plays in front of dozens of relatives and friends when the Wild visits TD Garden. "I would have had dinner with my family last night and all that. I'll have to be a fan for the night.

"It's a long process, but it's going good. I'm making good strides. You just have to stay positive and know you'll be back stronger and healthier.''

Coyle was injured when he was struck in the back of the leg by a Jared Spurgeon blast from the point. He had a plate and screws inserted into the bone and was able to resume working out only two days after his surgery.

Coyle said he can "pretty much do everything on both feet'' now, including rehab exercises, strength training and conditioning. He expects to get back on the ice soon, and though he knows his first few days on skates will be tiring, his workouts are intensive enough that he doesn't think it will take long to get into game shape.

Wild prospect Jordan Green­way, who plays for Boston University, was at the game and spoke with General Manager Chuck Fletcher during the first intermission. The 6-5, 238-pound junior said he isn't thinking much about when he might sign with the Wild, or whether he will play for the United States in the Winter Olympics, as he is expected to do.

The 50th overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, Greenway mostly is concerned with getting 15th-ranked BU (4-5-1) on a better course. He said he believes he can make the Olympic team, but first, he hopes to help a young Terriers team mature.

"I haven't played as well as I want to early in the season,'' said Greenway, who has two goals and five assists in 10 games. "We don't have a lot of experience. The more we play, the more I think things will work themselves out.''

As much as the Wild has been beset by injuries this season, Boston has had an even worse time. The Bruins were missing four forwards, a defenseman and a goaltender when Monday started, and by game time, leading scorer Brad Marchand had joined the list.

Marchand, who has eight goals and six assists, was sidelined by an upper-body injury. Five Bruins players are on injured reserve: David Backes (colon surgery), Ryan Spooner (right groin adductor tear), Noel Acciari (left index finger surgery), Adam McQuaid (broken right fibula) and David Krejci (upper body). Goalie Anton Khudobin (lower body) also is out.

• The Wild scratched defenseman Gustav Olofsson.

• Backes and Acciari were among seven Bruins players who purchased $2,500 worth of tickets apiece and gave them to veterans of the armed services Monday for Boston's Military Appreciation Night. World War II veterans Ramo Riva, 95, and Hugo Riva, 97, brothers from Taunton, Mass., dropped a ceremonial puck.