Noah Dobson did not return to Thursday’s game after leaving a hair over five minutes into the match with an apparent injury.
There was no apparent hit or fall that caused Dobson to leave the game, but he went up the tunnel and never returned.
Regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s game, the potential loss of Dobson is big enough to overshadow the proceedings.
The threat of Dobson missing any time at this critical juncture of the season is nothing short of a five-alarm fire for a team that has seen the young defenseman ascend into stardom this season.
Just a handful of hours before puck drop, Patrick Roy rolled out a litany of Hall of Famers and Stanley Cup winners in comparison to Dobson, who became the first Isles defenseman since Denis Potvin to reach 60 assists in a season on Tuesday night.
Dobson is the only defenseman in the opening night lineup yet to miss a game this season, and has been a stalwart on the back end all year through injuries.
Now would be the exact wrong time for him to miss his first games of the year.
