ARIZONA COYOTES
Coyotes’ Ekman-Larsson suffers lower-body injury, will have MRI
Jan 22, 2019, 7:30 PM | Updated: Jan 23, 2019, 11:45 am
Arizona Coyotes center Clayton Keller (9) celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 18, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Coyotes captain and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson suffered a lower-body injury against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday and would not return to the game. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station learned Wednesday that Ekman-Larsson will have an MRI on Thursday.
“He’s got to obviously get some tests done to his knee back in Arizona tomorrow,” head coach Rick Tocchet later said to media on Wednesday in Montreal.
It was not clear when Ekman-Larsson specifically got hurt but he was not on the bench at points in the second period.
The 27-year-old has six goals and 20 assists this season for a total of 26 points, which are all team-highs among defensemen.
Ekman-Larsson recently signed an eight-year extension with the Coyotes in July that has him under contract through the 2026-27 season.
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The Coyotes have been ravaged by injuries this season. They lost center Nick Schmaltz for the season, while defenseman Jason Demers, forwards Christian Dvorak, Michael Grabner and Brad Richardson and goaltender Antti Raanta are all out indefinitely.
Despite that, the Coyotes were just two points out of a playoff spot on Wednesday morning.
