Evander Kane returns to Thrashers' lineup

Evander Kane returned to the Thrashers' lineup Tuesday against the New York Islanders from what is being called an "upper-body" injury. Kane missed the past four games, and it may have been because of a concussion after taking a blow to the head two weeks ago.

Kane's previous game played was Jan. 17 against in Florida. In that game, he was hit by the Panthers' Rostislav Olesz. With less than four minutes left in the first period, Kane was chasing a puck behind the Panthers' net with Dennis Wideman. Olesz skated in and hit Kane in the face with his left shoulder. Kane left the game, but returned to assist on Chris Thorburn's game-tying goal with 1:14 left. The Thrashers won in a shootout to cap the dramatic victory.

Despite the fact the hit occurred Jan. 17, the injury was not revealed as an "upper body" injury until Jan. 25 -- after Kane already had missed three games. It was released as part of a team injury update that included the news that defenseman Tobias Enstrom would miss 2-4 weeks with a broken finger on his right hand.

The upper-body injury was not related to the mid-body injury Kane suffered in December.

“I didn’t get re-injured,” said Kane, who missed three games earlier his season with a hip injury after being checked in Pittsburgh on Dec. 28. “I took a good shot to the face. It was kind of where my body wasn’t particularly healed. The rest helped, and we took the time to use the [All-Star] break to my advantage and heal up.”

Kane returned as one of three players who are second on the team with 13 goals. Bryan Little and Rich Peverley also have 13, three goals behind team leaders Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd.

“I had time to rest and get healthy,” Kane said. “[Returning before the break for the Washington game] might have been pushing it a little bit. We made a good decision of letting me rest.