The top-seeded Vancouver Canucks will be without Daniel Sedin in their Stanley Cup playoff opener on Wednesday as the team's top goal scorer needs more time to recover from a concussion suffered three weeks ago.
The absence of Sedin, who led the Canucks with 30 goals in 72 games this season, leaves a gaping hole on the top line of a team seeking their first Stanley Cup after a crushing loss in the decisive seventh game of the final last year.
Sedin was not on the ice Wednesday for the team's morning skate. He practiced Monday for the first time since being diagnosed with a concussion but sat out Tuesday's main session, skating instead with a handful of team mates after the practice.
The Swede missed Vancouver's final nine games of the regular season after suffering a concussion March 21 when he was elbowed in the face by Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith.
The Canucks open their Western Conference quarter-final at home against the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 p.m.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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