Zibanejad Leaves Game With “Upper-Body Injury”

At 7:20 of the first period, Zibanejad chipped the puck past Erik Gudbranson into the right corner.

Zibanejad then beat Gudbranson to the puck, but Gudbranson finished his check on Zibanejad, delivering a forearm/elbow high that caused Zibanejad's head to hit the glass. Although Zibanejad skated off the ice under his own power, he immediately left the game and it was later announced that he would not return because of an "upper-body injury".

I don't want to fuel speculation that Zibanejad has a concussion, but he does have a history.

This injury comes four days after I penned a blog articulating how fortunate Ottawa has been with injuries this season. To this point, they have the fewest man-games lost to injury in the league. 

If Zibanejad has to miss any time, it's a shame. Not only for Mika's health and history, but for this team, they simply cannot afford to lose one of their best wingers for any extended period of time. 

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