Two scary moments highlighted a physical bout between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, with one player collapsing on the Flyers bench early in the second period.
Flyers player collapses on bench after taking elbow to the head
Both teams lost players to high hits on Saturday.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The first concerning moment was a result of an accident but brought back memories of Rich Peverley collapsing on the Dallas Stars bench a few years ago. Early in the second period, New York forward Jarret Stoll carried the puck away from pursuing Flyers forward Michael Raffl. Stoll lifted his elbow up while trying to move the puck, and Raffl ran head-first into it.
this is what happened to Raffl before he apparently collapsed on the bench. Incredibly scary pic.twitter.com/PZ2m1CeEop
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 25, 2015 Raffl returned to the bench and play resumed, but it was quickly halted when Raffl’s woozy demeanor alarmed the Flyers’ bench. He was clearly not with it, and was ushered carefully to the Flyers locker room.
He did not return and was later ruled out with an upper-body injury. The game remained paused for a few minutes more to let players on both sides shake off what just occurred.
But in the closing moments of the second period, another player went down with an apparent head injury. This time, Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas landed a hard hit on an unsuspecting Viktor Stalberg at center ice that knocked the Rangers forward from the game.
The Rangers were incensed about the hit, even though it appeared legal. Gudas was not penalized for the play and Stalberg’s status remained unknown through the second intermission.
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