Thomas Vanek was already slowing down from his blistering start to 2013, but now it looks he’s being stalled by an upper-body injury.
The Buffalo Sabres forward missed Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Devils and opted to sit out Sunday’s match against the New York Rangers as well, ESPN’s Katie Strang points out.
There’s not much information about the issue, although it’s probably a good sign that the 29-year-old at least had a chance to play tonight.
Vanek has been held without a point in seven of his last nine games, although the bright side is that he scored four points in the two games when he did get on the scoreboard. Overall, his numbers are still impressive: 27 points in 20 games.