A scary moment for the Nashville Predators turned Saturday’s game against Vegas into something much more serious than just another loss. Veteran forward Colton Sissons suffered what looks like a bad leg injury, and he might be out for quite a while.
The injury happened with about five minutes left in the first period. Vegas’s Brett Howden hit Sissons, who came down hard on his left leg. It was clear right away something was wrong – Sissons couldn’t even put weight on it as teammates helped him off the ice.
He left the arena on crutches.
The team’s reaction tells you everything you need to know about how serious this might be. Defenseman Nick Blankenburg asked for prayers for his teammate, while head coach Andrew Brunette called Sissons a "heart and soul guy" and admitted the team was pretty shaken up.
This hits especially hard because Sissons, now 31, has spent his whole NHL career with Nashville. He’s been there for everything – including their amazing run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017, where he put up 12 points in 22 playoff games.
This season hasn’t been as magical. The Predators are already out of playoff contention, and Sissons has managed 21 points in 72 games with a minus-12 rating.
But there might be a silver lining for one young player.
Matthew Wood, the team’s first-round pick from last year’s draft, just signed his first NHL contract on Saturday. The 20-year-old forward is coming off an impressive season at the University of Minnesota, where he scored 17 goals and added 22 assists in 39 games.
Wood was already heading to Nashville in the next few days. Now, with Sissons injured, he might get his first taste of NHL action sooner than anyone expected.
