The Carolina Hurricanes announced that winger Andrei Svechnikov is sidelined for at least one game with an upper-body injury. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said, Tuesday morning, that the rookie was in concussion protocol and would likely miss Game Four on Thursday.
Brind’Amour says Svechnikov is in the concussion protocol. Got checked out at the hospital last night. He doesn’t expect him to play in Game 4.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 16, 2019
Andrei Svechnikov Injured
About halfway through the first period of Game 3 against the Washington Capitals, Svechnikov bumped into Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin. The collision led to a fight in which Ovechkin landed three quick rights. Svehcnikov fell to the ground, seemingly losing consciousness for a few seconds. He needed assistance from teammates and trainers to leave the ice surface.
So far these playoffs, Svechnikov has scored two goals and one assist for three points to go along with two minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 62.0 percent Corsi-for and a relative Corsi of +2.0.
Svechnikov has spent the entirety of his rookie season with the Hurricanes. He had 20 goals and 17 assists for 37 points, playing in all 82 games. The Hurricanes drafted him second overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
What This Means for the Future
Seeing Svechnikov injured at this moment is not a good feeling for Hurricanes fans. Svechnikov was arguably one of the Hurricanes best offensive players through the first two games of the series. He provides an element of speed and finesse that seemed to frustrate the Capitals. Svechnikov being out for any period of time definitely hurts the Hurricanes chances of ousting the defending Cup champs.
Svechnikov being in concussion protocol makes things that much more alarming. Concussions are never good but getting one this early into a career is even more off-putting. The potential of this opening the door to future head injury troubles for the Hurricanes young, blossoming star is looming. While not a guarantee, this is certainly a possibility. Let’s hope Svechnikov is able to return sooner rather than later and resume building on his already tantalizing potential.
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