Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko out for rest of first round with injured shoulder

The St. Louis Blues confirmed on Tuesday that forward Vladimir Tarasenko has exited the NHL bubble site and returned to St. Louis for further evaluations of his surgically repaired left shoulder. He'll miss at least the remainder of his team's first-round showdown versus the Vancouver Canucks.

As noted by ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, Tarasenko underwent an operation late last October to repair the injury and only returned to the Blues for the resumption of the league's 2019-20 season that was originally halted on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 28-year-old hasn't taken the ice since last Friday's first-round contest against Vancouver. St. Louis tied the series 2-2 on Monday. Game 5 is on Wednesday with Game 6 slated for Friday. Game 7, if needed, is scheduled for Sunday.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told reporters that the club won't have an update on Tarasenko's status until next Monday. It's unknown when he'd be available to return to team activities if he were to head back to the bubble at any point during the playoffs.

Comments made by St. Louis coach Craig Berube weren't overly promising.

"It's concerning, but we don't know a lot yet, so I'm not going to jump to conclusions on anything. He's not feeling right, so that's why he's going to get it looked at. … It is concerning but we've got to wait and see."

Tarasenko hasn't yet tallied a point during the restart.