Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly exited the team’s clash against the Maple Leafs on Saturday in Columbus after collapsing in an extremely scary scene.
Paramedics were called for Kuraly after he took an awkward hit from Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe to his abdomen.
He immediately hunched over in pain after taking the hit with just under a minute to go in the first period and struggled to make it back to the bench.
Kuraly soon collapsed while receiving assistance to make it back to the team’s locker room at Nationwide Arena, according to the Columbia Dispatch.
Blue Jackets players began shouting and threw a white towel onto the ice in order to get the referees’ attention to stop play.
Paramedics entered the ice from the Zamboni entrance once play was stopped and headed toward the Blue Jackets’ locker room.
The first period was stopped with 18.3 seconds left, which were added to the second period.
Kuraly was brought to Grant Medical Center for further evaluation, but a team spokesperson said it looks like he avoided any serious injury.
“I was told that everything should be fine, but they’re checking to make sure everything is OK,” head coach Pascal Vincent said after the game, a 4-1 loss. “It was a scary moment. You know what happened, the hit and then he came back to the bench, [but] then what happened in the hallway, I don’t know. I just saw the trainers and the medical staff, and it was urgent. It’s not fun. You don’t want to see that.”
Kuraly, the team’s alternate captain, is in his third season with the Blue Jackets.
He’s recorded six goals and five assists this year.
“You have no idea what’s going on, but when somebody waves that towel, you hope they get to him quick,” Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said after the game, per the Columbia Dispatch. “The first little bit [during intermission] was intense, but once we got that word [he was OK], you reset and you go out and play.”
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