Injuries Don’t Stop Tverdovsky

Somehow, Mighty Duck defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky has managed to maintain his streak of consecutive games, now at 288, this season.

Tverdovsky suffered a bruised left knee against Columbus on Dec. 6. For a week in early January, Tverdovsky was down with flu, forcing him to miss some practices. He left a Jan. 21 game against Colorado after the first period because of back spasms. Tverdovsky was then knocked for a loop, suffering a concussion against Dallas on March 21.

Yet his streak lives. Only Chicago’s Tony Amonte, at 326 games, has a longer active streak.

“I never have been hurt this much,” Tverdovsky said. “I had six or seven injuries. Not bad ones, but fairly bad. Over the last couple years, I maybe had three times that I could possibly miss games. This year, there were seven or eight games in doubt, ones where I played in a lot of pain.”

Not only has Tverdovsky played through injury and illness, he has played well. Two nights after being injured in the Columbus game, he scored the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Minnesota. Three nights after suffering the concussion against Dallas, Tverdovsky scored the tying goal with seven minutes left in a 3-3 tie with the Kings.

Before Wednesday’s game against Colorado, Tverdovsky had 13 goals and ranked sixth among NHL defensemen with 51 points.

“You go out there and warm up, just seeing how it feels,” Tverdovsky said. “Then you get the adrenaline going and start thinking, ‘I can play. This will be OK.’

“After the season, I’m going to need a lot of rest.”

Well, not right after the season. Tverdovsky will play for Russia in the world championships in Germany later this month.