UPDATE: Vancouver's Mason Raymond suffered a fractured vertebrae after he was checked into the boards in Game 6 on Monday night. He has been ruled out for three to four months
EARLIER:
BOSTON — Vancouver Canucks forward Mason Raymond was taken to a hospital Monday night after he was injured during the first shift of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.
Raymond was hurt 20 seconds into the game when he got tangled up awkwardly with Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk. Raymond was bent at the waist with Boychuk's stick between his legs when Boychuk ran him backward into the boards near Boston's net.
Raymond stayed facedown on the ice for several minutes before his teammates helped him off. He wasn't moving his legs as his teammates guided him to the bench.
The Canucks refused to disclose the nature of Raymond's injury but said he had been taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
Raymond has struggled on Vancouver's second line in the postseason, managing just two goals and six assists. He hadn't scored in the Canucks' previous seven playoff games, including the entire Stanley Cup finals.
Vancouver yielded four goals to the Bruins in a 4:14 span shortly after Raymond's injury, and trailed 4-0 after the first period of a potential Stanley Cup-clinching game. Boston hoped to force a Game 7 in Vancouver on Wednesday.
The Canucks already are playing without injured defenseman Dan Hamhuis, who got hurt in Game 1, and forward Mikael Samuelsson. Second-line center Ryan Kesler and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff also are playing through undisclosed injuries.
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