Blues confirm Tarasenko has been injured and will be out for a while.

The St. Louis Blues have confirmed the worst. 

According to an official press release via the Blues official website the organization has announced that star forward Vladimir Tarasenko is in fact injured during the Blues Thursday night game against the Los Angeles Kings. It remains unclear exactly how Tarasenko was injured in the contest but the Blues did confirm that he is currently suffering from an injury of the "upper body" variety. 

Although the Blues did not share any details regarding the nature of the injury or how it might have occurred Cristiano Simonetta of The Athletic has found a short segment in the game in which Tarasenko appears to take an awkward and stiff fall along the end boards. Simonetta speculates that his arm and elbow may have absorbed the worst of that fall and this could be the reason for his current injury. That is of course only speculation at this time but it does appear to be supported somewhat by the video.

As for how long Tarasenko will be out? Well we do not have an official timeline on that either just yet but the initial prognosis from the Blues does not sound good at this time. According to the official report the Blues now expect Tarasenko to sit on the sidelines for the next 10 days but that is not the time table for his recovery. Instead the Blues are reporting that Tarasenko's injury will be reevaluated at that time and a further prognosis will be made then. This would appear to indicate from the outside looking in that the Blues expect him to be out for even longer than that. 

Tarasenko has of course been a huge part of the Blues sudden turn for the Blues around under head coach Craig Berube this season, contributing big offensive numbers for his team. Through the 66 games he has played in the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season he has 28 goals and 30 assists for a total of 58 points and boasts a plus minus rating of +5 on the season. That is pretty good production from a player that had reportedly fallen so far out of favor earlier in the season that there were rumors he could be traded by the deadline, and it is production the Blues will surely miss down the stretch.

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