St. Louis Blues Lose Alexey Toropchenko to Injury in Season Opener

Early Exit for Toropchenko

The St. Louis Blues suffered a tough blow in their season opening game against the Dallas Stars on Friday night. Forward Alexey Toropchenko left the matchup early in the second period with an apparent shoulder injury.

The incident occurred behind the St. Louis net. Toropchenko initially took a hard check from Dallas defenseman Lian Bischel. While the Blues forward was still moving toward the boards, he took a second shot from the side from Tyler Seguin.

Toropchenko immediately fell to the ice and grabbed at his upper right arm. Trainers tended to him on the ice. He was hunched over in obvious pain and had to brace his arm as he walked down the tunnel toward the locker room. There was about 16 and a half minutes left in the second period when he exited.

St. Louis Faces Lineup Questions

The loss of the forward leaves the Blues short handed early in the new campaign. Toropchenko was unable to return to the game after going down the tunnel. The team had to adjust their lines on the fly against Dallas.

The team will have to wait for further medical updates to see how much time he might miss. Bracing his arm and showing obvious pain is a worrying sign for the St. Louis bench as they look ahead to their upcoming road games.

What it means for the next game

St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche (NHL, Sun, 04 Oct): Colorado Avalanche win 75%, St. Louis Blues win 25%; projected score Colorado Avalanche 4, St. Louis Blues 3. Our safest pick: Avalanche to win.

St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks (NHL, Wed, 07 Oct): Chicago Blackhawks win 45%, St. Louis Blues win 55%; projected score Chicago Blackhawks 3, St. Louis Blues 3. Our safest pick: Blackhawks +1.5. Our best value pick: Blackhawks +1.5.