Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports

Vancouver Canucks grinder Brandon Prust sustained an apparent ankle injury late in the second period of Tuesday night’s game against his former team, the Montreal Canadiens.

Prust was skating towards an engagement with Canadiens fourth-liner Brian Flynn when he appeared to hit a rut, though his skate may have connected with Flynn’s skate or stick, and fell awkwardly. The hard-nosed forward instantly grabbed at his left ankle and seemed to be in an enormous level of pain, although he eventually skated down the tunnel under his own power. 

Unsurprisingly, Prust didn’t return for the beginning of the third period.

Here’s the sequence in question:

(Courtesy: Sportsnet)

Prust was having a strong game against the team that dealt him in July, setting up both of Jared McCann’s first-period goals. The Canucks will be left to hope that whatever injury Prust sustained on the play it’s not of the high-ankle sprain variety.

Here’s the update from the horses mouth:

The good news is that there’s no fracture. The bad news is that Prust is obviously still hurting, and more tests are needed before the severity of the injury can be determined.