The St. Louis Blues are running out of skilled forwards.
Already missing Jaden Schwartz (ankle), Paul Stastny (foot) and Patrik Berglund (shoulder), now Vladimir Tarasenko (knee) has been added to their sickbay.
Tarasenko was hurt when he was hit by Ducks forward Shawn Horcoff during Thursday’s contest. He remained in the game, but then missed Friday’s practice. Now he’s been ruled out for tonight’s contest against Minnesota, although the severity of his injury is still unclear.
“He’s out for the month of October,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said, per the team’s website. “When November turns, we’ll let you know on that one.”
With Tarasenko injured, St. Louis is now missing four of its top six scoring forwards in 2014-15, including T.J. Oshie, who is now with Washington.
The silver lining in all of this is that defenseman Colton Parayko is available tonight after being seen in a walking boot yesterday. The rookie has been a big contributor for St. Louis so far with four goals and three assists in 10 games.
It’s worth adding that despite St. Louis’ injury woes, the Blues have a 7-2-1 record after winning their last two contests.