Just when the Dallas Stars got some much-needed reinforcements along the blue line with the return of Ilya Lyubushkin, defenseman Lian Bichsel went down Sunday night against the Senators.
Off the faceoff at center-ice following Wyatt Johnston’s goal that gave the Stars a 3-1 lead, Bichsel was skating toward the boards in front of the benches to get the puck. As he made the play on the puck, he absorbed a check from Ottawa’s Fabian Zetterlund and went feet-first into what was an awkward collision along the boards.
Bichsel immediately went down and appeared to be in a significant amount of pain as team doctors tended to him. The young defenseman wasn’t putting any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the ice.
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The team announced Bichsel is questionable to return to the game.
While the severity of the injury to his left leg is not yet known, the 6-foot-7 defenseman broke his left ankle in May 2023 and had a procedure done over the summer to remove the plate that was placed in his ankle this past summer.
Even with Lyubushkin’s return, Dallas was still without defensemen Thomas Harley and Nils Lundkvist. Now, it appears that the Stars might have to add Bichsel to their lengthy list of injured defensemen.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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