BOSTON – If the Bruins are going to match the second-longest points streak in their history on Thursday night, they’ll have to do it without their leading scorer.

They’ll be without Brad Marchand long past Thursday night, too.

The NHL’s Player Safety Department suspended Marchand for five games on Thursday, ruling that his elbow to the head of Devils’ forward Marcus Johansson with two minutes left in the [...]

BOSTON – If the Bruins are going to match the second-longest points streak in their history on Thursday night, they’ll have to do it without their leading scorer.

They’ll be without Brad Marchand long past Thursday night, too.

The NHL’s Player Safety Department suspended Marchand for five games on Thursday, ruling that his elbow to the head of Devils’ forward Marcus Johansson with two minutes left in the Bruins’ 3-2 victory “cannot be excused as accidental or defensive contact.” The suspension begins with Thursday night’s road game against the Senators (7:35, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5), and carries through the Bruins’ Feb. 6 date at Detroit. He will be eligible to return on Feb. 7, against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Marchand, who practiced on Wednesday and accompanied the team to Ottawa, was expected to speak to media there on Thursday morning. The Bruins’ leader in goals (21), assists (29) and points (50) will serve a suspension for the fourth straight season and for the sixth time in his eight-year career. He has also been fined three times by the NHL.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy, who first said ‘I don’t have a strong opinion on” the play after Wednesday’s practice, later added that “one thing I will say … is I don’t think there’s any intent.

“I don’t think (Marchand) had a clue which player was coming. He had his head down, and I think he was preparing to get hit, so he was going to protect himself from a hit.”

Marchand and Riley Nash were on a 2-on-1 break when Marchand’s shot from the left circle was stopped by Devils goalie Ken Appleby. Marchand and Johansson were both trying to reach the rebound – which Appleby covered just before either player arrived – when the collision occurred.

“(Marchand) just felt he saw a Devils sweater, and was going to protect himself from contact,” said Cassidy, who talked with Marchand about the play before Wednesday’s practice.

In a video explaining its decision, the NHL Department of safety said that “while we acknowledge Marchand’s argument that he is attempting to defend himself from oncoming contact, it is Marchand who initiates the contact on this play. This is not a defensive maneuver made for Marchand’s protection.”

Speaking more generally, Cassidy supported the right of Marchand, who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall, to protect himself when a check coming.

“Brad puts himself in harm’s way because he has the puck so often,” Cassidy said. “He’s a top-end player for us, so he’s going to take hits.

“So he will have to protect himself in those situations. I believe he did that (Tuesday) night.

A consistent goal-scorer over his first five years – 21 to 28 goals in four full seasons; 18 in lockout-shortened 2013 – Marchand has since blossomed into one of the best snipers in the NHL. He scored 37 goals in 2015-16 and 39 last season, and he’s at 21 this year despite missing eight of the Bruins’ 46 games because of injuries. He had only missed 12 games because of injuries or illness over his previous seven seasons.

“Brad’s taken a couple of hits this year, missed some time,” Cassidy said of Marchand, who missed two games with an upper body injury in early November, and six more later that month with a never-disclosed injury that Marchand refused to discuss. “I thought he took some severe hits in vulnerable situations.”

Marchand’s winning goal and assist against the Devils on Tuesday helped the Bruins stretch their points streak to 17 games (13-0-4) since their last loss in regulation on Dec. 14, tying their longest such streak since Jan. 5-Feb. 13, 1983 (15-0-2). The 18-game streak (13-0-5) came in 1968-69, and the franchise-record 23-game points streak (15-0-8) was set in 1940-41.

The Bruins will also be without rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy on Thursday, and beyond. McAvoy underwent a procedure on Monday to treat an abnormal heart rhythm. The anticipated recovery period is two weeks.