The Vancouver Canucks, on the cusp of a playoff spot, are going to be without captain Henrik Sedin through the All-Star break, the team announced Monday.
Sedin was sent back to Vancouver from New York, where he suffered an upper-body injury in Sunday’s game against the Islanders.
Sedin was the recipient of a check from New York’s Mikhail Grabovski that was ugly enough to get Grabovski a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Sedin returned to the bench and remained there through the end of the first period, but did not return to the bench with the team to start the second.
Grabovski will not see supplemental discipline for the hit.
Coach Willie Desjardins talked to the press on Monday about Sedin, saying that Sedin “won’t likely be back in game action until after the All-Star break.”
With nine goals and 37 points in 44 games this season, Henrik sits behind only his brother Daniel (41) in scoring for the Canucks. Behind the 35-year-old brothers, it’s a gong show. Jannik Hansen comes in third in scoring with 22 points. Hansen and Radim Vrbata are the only two other players who have at least 20 points.
Losing their top line center for any amount of time could damage their playoff aspirations with the race for second and third in the Pacific Division tight and little to no hope of any Pacific Division team claiming a wild card spot from a much stronger Central Division.
