Stuetzle doesn’t finish Team Germany’s win after suffering leg injury

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The Ottawa Senators and their faithful will be waiting nervously for an update on the status of Tim Stuetzle at the IIHF world championship taking place in Finland.

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The club’s top centre left Team Germany’s 3-2 victory over France in the first period and didn’t return. He suffered a left leg injury after a hit along the boards from defenceman Thomas Thiry at the Helsinki Ice Hall Monday night.

While the 20-year-old Stuetzle was able to skate off favouring one leg and limped to the dressing room, initially it didn’t look good. A story on Team Germany’s website described Stuetzle as “slightly injured” but there was no update post-game on his status from coach Toni Soderholm.

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TSN’s Gord Miller noted Tuesday morning that the injury wasn’t as serious as originally thought but that Stuetzle “will be re-evaluated over the next couple of days.”

“He left on his own power but I didn’t like the way (Thiry) kind of accidentally,” said TSN analyst Mike Johnson Monday from Helsinki. “His body kind of bumped into the side of his leg. That’s the kind of thing with some people that can cause MCL or ACL (damage).

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“I just didn’t like the way it looked.”

Johnson, a former NHL player, said he believed the 20-year-old Stuetzle would likely need an MRI before any determination can be made…