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Anton Rodin had just finished practice and another lengthy, at times uneasy, question and answer session with the media.

He was alone, in the locker-room, when one of his teammates, out of uniform, stopped by.

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“How is the knee?” his teammate asked, thoughtfully.

Truth is, Rodin’s knee is not right. Maybe it’s right enough to play, and maybe it’s not.

No one will find that out Sunday. He will not be in the lineup against the New Jersey Devils.

The knee, actually more than anything else, is the reason why, and it’s a bit heartbreaking because no one knows when it will be right.

“It’s not (100 per cent),” said head coach Willie Desjardins.

“We all want it to be 100 per cent. We all want him to play the way he can so when he goes in, we get a great evaluation. But with that, it’s hard to take guys out of the lineup to put in a guy who doesn’t feel he’s 100 per cent.

“That is a tough thing to do.”

Photo by Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images

Desjardins had been planning to play Rodin this week. His team’s power play looks punch drunk. It needs help, desperately. Helping power plays is what Rodin does for a living. At least, when he’s healthy.