Blues’ Dylan Holloway taken to hospital after puck hits neck – NBC New York

St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway left Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, leaving the rink on a stretcher after being hit by a puck late in the first period.

Holloway was hit in the neck area by a puck with 2:37 left in the period, and proceeded to finish his shift, continuing to participate in the play before skating to the bench under his own power.

When play was stopped with 1:11 remaining due to a high-stick penalty that was later called, teammates began calling and gesturing for help.

Blues coach Ray Barile and medical staff from both teams tended to Holloway for several minutes before emergency medical technicians carried him off the bench on a stretcher.

“I was just sitting next to him and saw something happening,” Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko said. “I told Ray. He knows what he’s doing. I was just a little curious about what’s going on. The doctors came and I think everything is fine now. But we were concerned, everyone.”

Holloway was seen raising his arm as he was led away. The Blues later announced that Holloway was alert and stable and was taken to a St. Louis area hospital for further observation.

“I guess the only way I can do that is if you’re at work, you get a call, and one of your family members is sick, and you rush to the hospital,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “Holly is a family member. That was tough. I thought we showed a lot of fortitude as a group, and the way we can mentally get through that, because the easiest thing you can do is get your head somewhere else. But we were able to get updates on Holly and get some peace of mind and refocus.

Referees Wes McCauley and Cody Beach sent the teams to their locker rooms and started the first intermission after Holloway was transported off the bench due to the nature of the injury.

“It’s hard,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “It’s your teammate. Then we got news that he is doing well. And then you kind of have to wrap your head around it and go back to playing hockey, right? So that’s just the reality of the sport, unfortunately, and it took us a while to get going.

St. Louis rallied to score three goals after falling behind 1-0 early in the second period to beat Tampa Bay 3-2.