Half of the Blues’ regular defensemen are injured

This is not the best way to start the playoffs.

Robert Bortuzzo did not have a good night last night. A broken stick at the worst possible time led to the Wild’s first goal by Joel Eriksson Ek, who would score two of the Wild’s six.

Then this happened:

Bortuzzo promptly left to go to the locker room for repairs, but there’s not much that a trainer can do for a puck to the side of the head. Bortuzzo’s considered day-to-day.

This is on top of an upper-body injury to Nick Leddy and a lower-body injury to Marco Scandella. Scandella has yet to play this post-season, while Leddy finished game one before sitting game two out.

The Blues are without three regular defensemen now, and it shows. Calle Rosen, while clearly trying his best, was also clearly outmatched with his increased responsibility. He was on the ice for 16:34 to compensate for Bortuzzo’s loss. The team’s 6-2 blowout loss last night was not the reaction that many fans expected to the Blues’ 4-0 win on Monday, but being without half of their defense more than likely did not help their cause.

Craig Berube seems optimistic:

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed at least one of the trio will be back on Friday night.