Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Canucks forward Mason Raymond will be out three to four months with a fractured vertebrae after he was checked into the boards during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Raymond sustained a “vertebrae compression fracture” Monday night, the team said Tuesday. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk rode him into the boards 20 seconds into Boston’s 5-2 victory that forced a decisive Game 7 Wednesday night in Vancouver.

Raymond lay on the ice for several minutes before being helped off and taken to the hospital on a stretcher. No penalty was called on the play.

On the first shift of the game, Raymond became entangled with Boychuk in the corner after the puck went by both of them. He was spun backward with the defender’s stick between his legs. Raymond ended up with his head down between Boychuk’s legs as the defenseman finished his check by delivering Raymond backward into the boards, leaving him face down on the ice.

Vancouver yielded four goals during a 4:14 span shortly after Raymond’s injury and trailed 4-0 after the first period.

Raymond has struggled on Vancouver’s second line in the postseason, managing just two goals and six assists.

The Canucks already are playing without injured defenseman Dan Hamhuis, who got hurt in Game 1, and forward Mikael Samuelsson. Second-line center Ryan Kesler and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff also are playing through undisclosed injuries.

-AP