BOSTON — The Boston Bruins will be without forward Michael Ryder for up to three weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a broken face bone.

Ryder had surgery Monday on the orbital bone between his eyes. General manager Peter Chiarelli said Tuesday that Ryder had three small plates put in to repair three fractures.

"Surgery was successful," Chiarelli said. "He's home now. He'll be back in two to three weeks and back riding a bike in two to three days."

Ryder took a stick to the bridge of his nose Thursday in Ottawa and missed Saturday's game against Philadelphia.

"He actually thought he was going to play before we detected the little fractures," Chiarelli said. "So, it's not as bad as first expected."

He has 19 goals in his first season with Boston, taking some pressure off leading scorers Phil Kessel and Marc Savard.

"It's a big loss for our team but certainly it's something we've had to deal with for quite a few times this year, so we're used to it," coach Claude Julien said.