Canucks winger takes one-timer off the face, drops to the ice in immediate distress
With hockey being a contact sport, sometimes injuries are unavoidable - but it's not always body contact that causes injury. Firing a small rubber disc at 100 miles per hour can also cause some significant bumps and bruises or worse. In the case of Andrei Kuzmenko, it was much, much worse.
During a Wednesday night clash between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders, with the Islanders up 3-2, the Canucks were pressing to tie the game at 3 midway through the third period on a 5-on-3 power play. As the Canucks cycled the puck in the Islanders' zone, J.T. Miller worked his way into a shooting position and Andrei Kuzmenko posted up in front of the net for the tap-in. What happened next was both unexpected and unfortunate.
As Miller got himself into position for the one-timer and let one rip, Kuzmenko was shoved towards the Islanders' net by defenseman Ryan Pulock and took a hard slap shot right to the face. He was obviously in immediate distress and a lot of pain as a result of the play.
Kuzmenko dropped to the ice, holding his face, and remained there while he was attended to. Former teammate and ex-Canucks captain Bo Horvat came over and stood with his former teammates in support of the injured Kuzmenko, with whom he had played last year, showing tremendous concern.
The Canucks did come back to win the game and while Canucks coach Rick Tocchet didn't have an update on Kuzmenko following the game, the Russian winger himself updated fans on his health status, stating that he's okay.
Glad to hear Kuzmenko is alright after taking a slap shot to the face. It could have been a whole lot worse by the sounds of it.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 16 | 212 ANSWERS Canucks winger takes one-timer off the face, drops to the ice in immediate distress Will the Vancouver Canucks make the playoffs this season? | ||
| Absolutely | 133 | 62.7 % |
| Maybe | 60 | 28.3 % |
| Not a chance | 19 | 9 % |
| List of polls | ||
