NHL rookie leader Elias Pettersson suffers injury in awkward collision

Vancouver Canucks runaway rookie leader Elias Pettersson scored a hat trick the night that he learned he would be heading to the NHL All-Star Game.

His second night didn't go so well.

Pettersson left the ice in pain in the second period after getting tangled up with Montreal Canadiens rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

Pettersson, 20, had checked Kotkaniemi behind the net and as he skated back out of the zone, Kotkaniemi hooked him.

When Pettersson turned, their legs got tangled and they fell awkwardly, with Pettersson's knee and ankle buckling under his weight. He tried to get up, but stretched out on the ice in pain.

Here's another look.

Pettersson was on the ice for several moments before he got up with help. He was able to skate off gingerly on his own — Kotkaniemi went over to make sure he was OK — and walked to the dressing room.

The Canucks tweeted that he wouldn't return because of a lower-body injury.

"It's not a dirty play by their player at all," Canucks coach Travis Green told reporters after the game.

Pettersson, who missed six games earlier this season with a concussion, entered Thursday night's game with a team-best 20 goals and 42 points, 17 more than the next closest rookie.

Green said Pettersson would remain with the team on its trip.