Just when the Vancouver Canucks were getting healthy, the injury bug struck. Kevin Bieksa, who shares the team lead with five goals, left Friday’s game against the Nashville Predators with what the team is reporting as a groin injury.
Currently, he is listed as day-to-day and isn’t expected to play on the last game of the road trip Sunday in Detroit.
Bieksa’s absence will be a hard blow for the Canucks to swallow. While he only had six points, his five goals ranked him second in the NHL amongst defencemen. Bieksa also played big minutes paired with Dan Hamhuis on the shutdown pairing at even strength and on both sides of special teams.
The Canucks will miss the combative blueliner, but they have some depth on defence that can help cover for his absence in the short term.
Alex Edler and Hamhuis, with 12 and 10 points respectively, are near the top of the scoring charts amongst NHL defencemen and can carry the load offensively. Jason Garrison should also have a second chance to incorporate his big shot on the second power-play unit in place of Bieksa. Chris Tanev and Keith Ballard will be able to soak up some extr ...
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Article written by Joel Prosser
Vancouver Canucks’ Blueline Depth Tested with Kevin Bieksa Injury
February 23rd, 2013 by Joel Prosser Leave a reply »
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