Injury Notes: Kane, Perunovich, Kapanen

Heading into the team’s game tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators, there was some hope from the Detroit Red Wings that forward Patrick Kane could be healthy enough to return, after missing the team’s last six games with a lower-body injury. Nevertheless, Ansar Khan of MLive reports that Kane will not be in the lineup tomorrow night for Detroit, and the team will allow him to rest and recover over the upcoming All-Star break.

With Kane making a strong comeback after offseason hip resurfacing surgery, the saving grace to this injury is that all signs are pointing to it being unrelated to his hip. However, with Kane making such an unexpectedly impressive return from resurfacing surgery, having to deal with a separate issue could likely lead to some frustration for the veteran forward.

Even though he has become one of the better forwards in the lineup, the Red Wings have faired well in his absence, producing a 4-2-0 record and picking up important victories against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Once he does return after the All-Star break, Kane will look to improve on his 16-point total and reinforce Detroit’s current momentum.

Other injury notes:

• Suffering a lower-body injury in the team’s most recent game against the Los Angeles Kings, Lou Korac of The Hockey News reports that St.Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich was seen wearing a boot on his left foot this morning, and would be out through the All-Star break. Thankfully, the injury does not sound as serious as expected, meaning that Perunovich should be able to return shortly thereafter. On the season, Perunovich has suited up in 31 games for the Blues, tallying 12 assists while averaging about 14 and a half minutes a night.
• Sticking in St.Louis, although it has already been confirmed that forward Kasperi Kapanen will be out through the All-Star break, Lou Korac reports that he was back at practice this morning for the team. Residing on the team’s injured reserve for the last two weeks, Kapanen was on a much slower pace compared to last season before the injury, only scoring four goals and 13 points through 42 games.