GIF: Chris Tanev sustains apparent hand injury blocking shot; clears the puck anyway

Photo Credit: Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports

The first period of the Vancouver Canucks’ game on Monday night in Anaheim was something of a nightmare. All the period needed was Luke yelling “welcome to the OC bitch!” and you would’ve had one hell of a Fox pilot.

Not only did the Canucks fall behind early, and go down by two with just two seconds remaining in the frame, but they lost a variety of players to apparent injuries. The most impactful injury was to first-pairing Chris Tanev, who appeared to sustain a left-hand injury while blocking a shot shorthanded in the first frame.

Though Tanev left the game for the latter half of the first period, he returned to the game in the second frame.

You can see the injury here:

(Courtesy: Sportsnet)

It’s awesome that Tanev got hurt on the play and still managed to clear the puck. You know he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The 25-year-old defenseman took a few very short shifts after this incident, but went down the tunnel and back to the room following a lengthy consultation with Canucks training staff. On the bench, Tanev was observed by Sportsnet’s cameras favouring his right hand. Luckily for Vancouver, their key defenseman reappeared on the ice for the beginning of the second period.

Tanev is a defensive ace and one of the most consistently impactful two-way defensemen in hockey. Part of what he does though is block a ridiculous proportion of shots (he’s blocked over 13 percent of all opponent’s shot attempts this season last I checked, and was over 14 percent last season) and get hit often while going back to retrieve the puck.

Injuries are inevitable considering Tanev’s style of play, but the Canucks blue line is thin. They simply can’t afford to be without Tanev for any significant length of time. 

Luckily he seems to have escaped the worst of it on Monday night.