Often one of the (small) consolation prizes that exist when a player misses the Stanley Cup playoffs is the selection to their home nation’s IIHF World Championships team. Unfortunately for Vladimir Tarasenko, there will be no coda to this year’s season. His final movement came Saturday night during the first period when he hit the boards while checking Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
It didn’t look like much, but Tarasenko skated off, sat on the bench before heading to the locker room, and did not return for the rest of the game.