Stastny to miss remainder of trip, sidelined indefinitely

Center sustained lower-body injury blocking shot in second period against Canucks

By LOU KORAC
The injuries are taking its toll on the Blues early in the season.

Center Paul Stastny sustained a lower-body injury Friday in a 4-3 victory against the Vancouver Canucks and has been sent home to St. Louis to be further evaluated. He will miss the remainder of the Blues' trip (Sunday at Winnipeg and Tuesday at Montreal) and the team will have a further update on Stastny upon its return to St. Louis.

Paul Stastny

Stastny blocked a shot by the Canucks' Matt Bartkowski with 4 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the second period. He skated for a shift before leaving, came back for the start of the third period, took a twirl on the ice and did not return.

Stastny, who had five points (four assists) in five games this season, joins forward Robby Fabbri (concussion) and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (lower-body) as players on the shelf.

Fabbri was injured against the Minnesota Wild following a check from former Blue Chris Porter on Oct. 17 and did not accompany the team on the Canadian five-game road swing, and Shattenkirk left a 4-2 victory last Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers. He pulled up following a wrist shot and left the ice in the second period and did not return.

Fabbri was put on injured-reserve on Wednesday, meaning he would miss at least the remainder of the trip, and Shattenkirk is considered day-to-day.

Stastny, in the second season of a four-year, $28 million contract signed July 1, 2014, was off to the kind of start he had last season. Last season, Stastny had four points in three games before sustaining a shoulder injury 31 seconds into his fourth game against the Arizona Coyotes.

Stastny had been playing on the Blues' No. 1 line between Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko.