During tonight’s Game 6 that saw Boston beat Vancouver 5-2 to force a Game 7 on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET on NBC), the Vancouver Canucks saw their lineup depth take a shot in the early stages of the game.
Canucks speedy forward Mason Raymond was injured thanks to a hit from Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk on what appeared to be a rather innocuous play in the corner. Raymond was helped off the ice by teammates and was later taken to Mass General Hospital to be examined. While the play itself didn’t seem to be too dangerous or dirty, it’s shaping up that Raymond will miss out on Game 7.
Here’s video of the play in question.
After the game, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault had no update on Raymond but TSN’s Darren Dreger tweeted that the Canucks are not too happy with what happened.
We’re sure that some fans will think that the Canucks could be politicking here and perhaps even crying wolf but given that Raymond was taken to the hospital and the grave seriousness in how the injury is being described, it leads us to believe that things are really bad with Raymond.
All that aside, taking a look at the hit we can see that it was delivered late but not in the same sense that Aaron Rome connected with Nathan Horton as Boychuk and Raymond were already engaged. Guys are taught to finish their checks and that’s what it appeared Boychuk was doing... It just happened that Raymond was in a very awkward position going into the corner.
With the Canucks as angry as they are, we have to assume the NHL may take a look at the play and see if there’s something objectionable enough to warrant action on Boychuk, but it would seem right now that we likely won’t see anything come of it.
Raymond’s loss to the lineup is a big one as he’s played well alongside Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins on the Canucks second line. Jannik Hansen took Raymond’s spot on the second line after he was knocked out of the game. Hansen played well with those two so it’s not unreasonable that he’ll be back on that line again in Game 7 provided Raymond is as hurt as reported. As to who might jump back into the lineup with Raymond out, Jeff Tambellini would be the likely choice.
The Canucks shouldn’t need added motivation going into a Game 7, but if Raymond is out and they feel it was a dirty hit, they’ve got that little bit of extra juice for their game now.
