Montreal Canadiens players look on as teammate P.K. Subban lies injured on the ice during third period NHL hockey action against the Buffalo Sabres in Montreal, Thursday, March 10, 2016.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Accidents will happen on a hockey rink, and a freakish one involving a teammate led to Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban being stretchered off the Bell Centre with 2:26 to play in the third period Thursday.
It's believed the injury he suffered is not serious, but it was plenty frightening as it unfolded.
Subban was back-checking against Buffalo Sabres winger Marcus Foligno, then fell forward as the pair entered the corner to the left of the Habs' net.
That's when fellow Montreal blue-liner Alexei Emelin arrived on the scene to lend a hand. Unfortunately his leg and hip caught the side of Subban's head as the trio went into the boards.
The 26-year-old Subban, recognized with the Jean Béliveau Trophy for community involvement before the game, was in immediate and considerable distress, grabbing the left side of his neck and flinging his gloves away.
The Habs' head trainer and team doctor quickly jogged out onto the ice, followed by the rest of the medical staff – helped along by at least one Sabres player – and though Subban appeared to be able to move his extremities, a backboard and stretcher were quickly summoned.
The sellout crowd looked on in stunned silence, Montreal captain Max Pacioretty – no stranger to catastrophic injuries in the building – stood close by as the medical team strapped the all-star defender and former Canadian Olympian onto the spinal board.
There were a few cries of encouragement, but the sight of the Habs' most popular player prone on the ice cast a pall.
Subban gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was led off the ice – under the worried gaze of several teammates.
After a lengthy pause the game resumed.
The Habs would hang on to their 3-2 lead through to the final horn. Alex Galchenyuk continued his torrid pace scoring two more goals, giving him 10 in the last eight games. He is the first Montreal player to score 10 goals that quickly since Brian Savage did it in 1999.
Afterward, all the talk was about Subban's injury.
"That whole situation is really scary . . . the benches were kind of chirping at each other and then everybody rushed out there. That was the scariest thing for me, not knowing what happened," Pacioretty said.
He seemed to be particularly shaken by the incident, admitting it dredged up uncomfortable memories of Mar. 8, 2011, when he was the one being carried off after breaking his neck and suffering a concussion when Boston's Zdeno Chara rode him into a stanchion.
"It was impossible to concentrate after (the Subban hit), maybe for me more than some other guys," he said. "Now I know how guys felt when that happened to me."
Goaltender Mike Condon, who was nearest to the incident, said he had his head turned the other way to follow the puck, but knew something was amiss when he heard screaming to his left.
After seeing Subban prone in the corner, the rookie netminder said he wasn't surprised to see the opposition as concerned as the Habs were.
"It's a game we play, sometimes people forget that," he said.
A team spokesman confirmed Subban suffered a neck injury but was able to move all his extremities and was alert and communicative after being taken off the ice. He was taken to the Montreal General Hospital by the club's medical team for further testing. The official called it a precautionary measure.
Montreal coach Michel Therrien said he had "a good conversation" with Subban before he was loaded into the ambulance, and that he had no issue with the feeling in his hands and legs.
"It's a good thing, under the circumstances," Therrien said.
Subban has never missed a game because of injury in his nearly six years in the NHL; it won't be a surprise if that changes this week.