The St.Louis Blues announced that defenceman Carl Gunnarsson will miss Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with a lower-body injury.
Berube says Gunnarsson (lower-body injury) won’t play tonight. Robert Bortuzzo is in. https://t.co/l0tXlp4cwK #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 11, 2019
Carl Gunnarsson To Miss Game 1
There is no indication of how Gunnarsson suffered the injury. The Blues last played on Tuesday Night. However, it has been made clear that he is not ready to play tonight.
So far this season, Gunnarsson scored three goals and four assists for seven points to go along with six minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 53.9 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 1.8 percent. Gunnarsson has failed to record a point in 9 games this postseason
Over his 10-year NHL career, Gunnarsson has spent time with the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. He has 28 goals and 101 assists for 129 career points in 581 career games. He was originally drafted by the Leafs in the seventh round, 194th overall in the 2007 NHL draft.
Robert Bortuzzo In for Carl Gunnarsson
With Gunnarsson out of the line-up head coach Craig Berube has elected to go with Robert Bortuzzo to take his place in the line-up. Bortuzzo had two goals and eight assists for 10 points in 59 regular season games. He has yet to score get himself on the scoresheet in six games this post-season.
Bortuzzo brings a little bit more offensive to the Blues blue-line. He also brings a bit more size to the Blues line-up. Bortuzzo will be playing alongside Vince Dunn on the third pairing. The 31-year-old defenseman will look to get his legs moving early and get adjusted to game action since he hasn’t played in a game in over 10 days. It will be interesting to see how this move affects the Blues in tonight’s game as they open up their series vs the San Jose Sharks.
Gunnarsson will look to get back in the line-up for game 2 on Monday Night.
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