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Injuries Piling Up Early for Ducks |
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Defenseman Ben Lovejoy scored 2:48 into overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks , but somehow the result seems inconsequential because of another possible Ducks injury.
This time it was Anaheim forward Emerson Etem feeling the effects of a freak collision with Sharks villain Raffi Torres.
Torres and Etem collided early in the second period as Etem tried to avoid going offside. The two players were sent spinning in opposite directions. Torres made it back to the bench on his own, but left the game soon after and didn't return.
No, this was not a case of Raffi being Raffi, it was a complete accident.
Etem, who scored the Ducks first goal, injured his left leg and had to be helped off the ice by teammate Daniel Winnink and a Ducks trainer. He returned later in the period, but couldn't continue after that and didn't come out for the third period.
It was encouraging to see Etem come out and give the knee a test. I'm sure he was pulled from continuing in the game as a precaution. Let's just hope its not something that lingers and becomes a bigger problem.
So far the Ducks are mum on Emerson's condition.
With just about two weeks left in the camp the casualties are starting to pile up. Francois Beauchemin is slowed by a bum knee; Sheldon Souray is out recovering from wrist surgery; Luca Sbisa tweaked his ankle and now Etem's knee.
I know Bruce Boudreau and his staff want to put an end to this unfavorable trend and be as healthy as humanly possible when they start their defense of the Pacific Division crown.
The Pacific is arguably one of the toughest divisions in the NHL and a strong healthy team will be paramount if Anaheim has even a remote chance to do so. So far things are not going as planned.
As soon as an update is available I will share it here.
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