Colorado Avalanche forward Darcy Tucker was taken off the ice with a neck brace and strapped to a backboard, after being checked into the boards in the offensive zone early in the second period.
Hit from behind by Carolina Hurricane forward Tuomo Ruutu as Tucker was playing the puck. Tucker went face first into the boards and fell on his back onto the ice. He lay motionless for several minutes as Avalanche trainers and doctors attended to him. Tucker appeared conscious as he was taken off the ice, but there was a pool of blood left on the ice from where he was lying for more than 5 minutes.
There was no immediate word as to the exact nature of Tucker's injury. Ruutu was assessed an major penalty for boarding and given a game misconduct.
For the Fantasy Impact follow us after the crease:
Fantasy Wise: This could be a big blow to the Avalanche, as Tucker is a good veteran presence playing on rookie Matt Duchene's wing. He offered protection and some scoring and had meshed nicely with the rookie.
If this is indeed a long term injury, Cory McLeod may get a shot at replacing Tucker on the second line as he's been playing well and brings a similar game as Tucker. McLeod, however, is out this weekend with a minor eye injury of his own from an inadvertent stick in Wednesday's game against the Wild. The Avalanche are expecting him back sometime during their road trip starting on Tuesday.
The Avalanche had called up Chris Stewart, who played in place of McLeod tonight. If McLeod stays out, expect TJ Hensick to also be re-inserted into the lineup. Hensick has the most offensive upside but hasn't been able to crack the lineup in 2 weeks.
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