Gunnarsson to miss rest of season with right knee injury

Defenseman was injured with 9:20 left in second period of loss to Kings 

Monday; Barbashev has ankle surgery, to be reevaluated in six weeks

By LOU KORAC
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The injury news got worse for the Blues in one manner on Tuesday.

Carl Gunnarsson

The team announced that defenseman Carl Gunnarsson sustained a right knee injury in a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and will miss the rest of the season.

Gunnarsson, 34, was injured with 9:20 remaining in the second period when he went into the back boards with Kings forward Gabriel Vilardi. He was down on the ice before needing help off it to the locker room.

It's horrible," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said after the game Monday. "... That's a guy that's laid it on the line for this organization for a long time. He's a hell of a teammate and a good guy. The guy is an absolute warrior, so it's tough to see a guy that plays hard every single night, and gives it his all, go down like that - obviously it looked serious."

Gunnarsson joins Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Jaden Schwartz (lower body), Colton Parayko (undisclosed), Tyler Bozak (upper body), Robert Thomas (thumb) and Ivan Barbashev (ankle) out with injuries.

The Blues said that Gunnarsson is undergoing further orthopedic evaluation and imaging studies to determine full extent of his injury, and with this being the final year of his contract, chances are we've seen the last of 'Boom Boom' in St. Louis.

But Gunnarsson will go down in St. Louis history as the one who scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Blues' first-ever Cup Final victory, and the story behind it with the conversation he had with coach Craig Berube during intermission 'at the pisser.' 

"Yeah, it's disappointing for sure and really disappointing for him I'm sure," Berube said of the injury. "An injury like that's tough. It's tough to see a teammate, a player go down like that with that injury. I feel bad for him. We're losing a great teammate, he's a great guy and a real good hockey player for us."

The news on Barbashev is that he had successful surgery on his left ankle Tuesday morning and he will be reevaluated in six weeks.

As for Bozak, he skated Monday morning but did not skate with the players on the ice for an optional practice. However, the 34-year-old, who has missed the past 11 games, did skate on his own Tuesday 

"We'll see how he is tomorrow and go from there," Berube said. "If he keeps feeling better and better as he goes along, hopefully he'll be in our team skate tomorrow, we'll see, but those are all good signs."

Tarasenko skated again on Tuesday, but Berube had no updates on Schwartz or Parayko.