Ryan Kesler is on his way back to Vancouver to have his right knee evaluated after injuring it in the Canucks’ 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday night.
Kesler suffered the injury near the end of the second period after colliding knee-on-knee with Jets forward Jim Slater. After hobbling to the bench, Kesler was taken to the dressing room and did not return for the third period.
“He’s going to get some imaging and we’ll have a better indication of where he’s at, but he’s out for a while,” Tortorella told reporters after the game.
Slater, who was assessed a tripping penalty on the play, said he didn’t intend to injure the Canucks forward.
“I thought I had him lined up, he kind of bailed there at the last second there,” Slater told reporters. “I didn’t stick my knee out or anything in his path, wasn’t leading with my leg. I thought I actually took the worst of it.
“Obviously, if he’s hurt bad, I feel bad about that. It wasn’t any intent. I thought I had him lined up and at the last second he tried to jump out of the way.”
The Canucks, who have gone 3-6-2 in their past 10, are four points back of eighth place in the Western Conference with 14 games to play.
Kesler leads the Canucks with 22 goals and is second on the team with 40 points.
