Kotkaniemi goes up to Pettersson to apologize after grabbing him and twisting his knee

This text might be hard for Vancouver Canucks fans to read. Losing rookie Elias Petersson would be an awful blow at this point in the season... 

On Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Canucks and the fans present at the Bell Centre were excited to see the rivals' rookie sensation in action. However, it was the Habs' own rookie who sent him to the dressing room early in the game. 

During the season period, Pettersson got his leg tangled up with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and went down in pain. He stayed down for awhile as a trainer went to his side, before heading to the dressing room. As both rookies could tangled up, Pettersson's knee twisted underneath him... making the following footage quite tough to watch. 

Many were surprised to see Pettersson heading to the Canucks' dressing room on his own power. 

While fans might be quick to insult Kotkaniemi for his reckless actions - and on top of that the kid was not penalized on the play - the Habs rookie did go over to Pettersson to apologize and check on him, a great show of sportsmanship by Kotkaniemi as he skated over to Pettersson as he is helped up off the ice.

It seemed like Pettersson was unsure if he needed to step away from the game as he managed to skate on his own and was looking around to see what he should do next. He did exit the game and we will keep you posted on his condition. 

UPDATE: The Canucks have just confirmed that Pettersson suffered a lower-body injury (duh!) and will not return for the rest of the contest.