Boston Bruins LW Milan Lucic out up to four weeks with sprained left ankle

BOSTON - Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic is out again, sidelined up to four weeks with a sprained left ankle.

"Hopefully this is the last of his injuries this year," Bruins coach Claude Julien said before Friday's game against New Jersey. "It was just a rut in the ice and his foot went the wrong way."

Lucic, who missed 14 games earlier in the season with a fractured finger, limped off the ice in Wednesday's shootout win over the Minnesota Mild.

"It's something we've been dealing with since the start of the season," Julien said. "We'll be without him a month. Maybe less."

Lucic, one of the team's emotional leaders with his tough play to go along with his scoring skills, signed a three-year contract extension earlier in the season.

He played just four games since returning from the finger injury and scored goals in two of the last three games.

He has 27 goals and 47 assists in two-plus seasons. Lucic also has racked up 238 penalty minutes in 159 regular-season games.

The 21-year-old was one of 46 players to attend Team Canada's Olympic orientation camp over the summer.