St. Louis Blues Lose Vladimir Tarasenko, Recall Ty Rattie
The St. Louis Blues had a potentially major roadblock thrown in the way of their Stanley Cup hopes on Tuesday, as it was announced that forward Vladimir Tarasenko will be out for an indefinite period with a lower-body injury. Coach Ken Hitchcock termed the injury “€œday-to-day” and said that Tarasenko should be ready for the playoffs. However, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’€™s Jeremy Rutherford suggested that the injury could be significant enough that it keeps Tarasenko out for more than just a few games:
Tarasenko's injury sounds to be more than day to day, but not overly serious. Again, HItch should have update after practice.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) April 1, 2015
Losing Tarasenko is extremely significant to the Blues, as he is their leading scorer with 36 goals and 35 assists this season. As if that weren’t enough, forward Alexander Steen was also off the ice, presumably with the same lower-body injury that has held him back as of late, and he is doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Calgary Flames. Steen is the Blues’ second-leading scorer this season, having registered 24 goals and 38 assists.
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To compensate for the losses of the two forwards, the Blues have recalled rookie forward Ty Rattie from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. While Rattie was rather unproductive in five NHL games earlier this season, adding just one assist during that time, he’s been dominant in the AHL and could be ready to break out sooner than later if given an extended opportunity. Despite having missed out on seven games with the Wolves while helping out the Blues, Rattie is still the team’s second-leading scorer with 21 goals and 12 assists. He’s coming off a week in which he won the AHL Player of the Week award after registering two goals and five assists over three games. Rattie will presumably be replacing someone along the line that currently consists of Chris Porter, Jori Lehtera, and Olli Jokinen and will try to inject some offensive punch into the third line.