Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho misses Vancouver game because of illness
.JPG "Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, right, celebrates his overtime goal against the Calgary Flames with Teuvo Teravainen in an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)")
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho, the team’s top scorer, was held out of Sunday’s game against Vancouver because of an illness.
The team announced Aho, who had scored five goals in the past three games, would miss the game against the Canucks at Rogers Arena -- the fourth game of the Canes’ five-game road trip and the second of a back-to-back set. Aho leads the Canes with 15 goals and 32 points.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Sunday morning that he believed everyone came out of Saturday’s game against Edmonton fine physically and that the lineup Sunday might not change. But the Canes announced a half-hour before Sunday’s game that Aho would be a scratch and that defenseman Max Lajoie would draw back into the lineup.
Aho has anchored the Canes’ top line and had five consecutive multi-point games before Sunday. He had two goals and an assist Saturday in the 3-1 win over the Oilers and was named the game’s first star.
The Canes won the first three games of the road trip, which ends Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. Carolina expects defensemen Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo, who recently were released from COVID-19 protocol, to rejoin the lineup for the Wild game.
This story was originally published December 12, 2021 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho misses Vancouver game because of illness."
