Any doubt that Florida Panthers fans may have had that defenseman Keith Yandle’s iron man streak could be over after Yandle took a puck to the mouth and lost nine teeth (video here) were relieved this morning.
NHL Network’s Ryan Whitney reports that Yandle had dental surgery Sunday morning and will play tonight to keep his streak alive. Yandle, in fact, had played 10 shifts Sunday night against Buffalo through two periods.
Yandle, who currently leads active NHL players with 820 consecutive games played, took a puck to the face in the first period Saturday, missed the second period, and returned to play in the third period.
The 33-year-old Yandle is only 10 games shy of catching Andrew Cogliano, whose streak ended in 2017 at 830 games and is in fourth place. Doug Jarvis holds the iron man record at 964 consecutive games played.
There is more from around the NHL:
- NHL.com’s Dave Hogg reports the Detroit Red Wings will be without forward Anthony Mantha for at least a week with a lower-body injury. It’s a tough injury to swallow for a team with the worst record in the NHL, with just 17 points this season. Mantha has been one of the few bright spots as the 25-year-old has 12 goals and 23 points in 25 games. That has him on target for career highs. Mantha scored 25 goals last season.
- The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that forward Marcus Johansson will miss games today against Florida and Monday versus Tampa Bay with an upper-body injury. Head coach Ralph Krueger said he hopes to get Johansson back early next week. The 29-year-old Johansson has four goals and 10 points in 17 games this season, but remains on injured reserve. The team will have to make a move to activate him.
- The Ottawa Senators should be getting back one of their young talents sooner than later as defenseman Erik Brannstrom is close to returning. The 20-year-old has been out the past three games with an undisclosed injury, but could still be out another week, according to head coach D.J. Smith. “He’s close,” said Smith. “We just didn’t want to put him through that practice today so he’s going to stay home and he’ll practice with us when we get back. He’s probably within a week.” Brannstrom has two assists in 19 games.
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