CBJ Lose To Leafs, Also Lose Sean Kuraly To A Scary Injury
CBJ Lose To Leafs, Also Lose Sean Kuraly To A Scary Injury
Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports - CBJ Lose To Leafs, Also Lose Sean Kuraly To A Scary InjuryThe Jackets lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1, but the overall story of the night is the loss of CBJ forward Sean Kuraly.
Late in the first period, Kuraly collided with a pair of Maple Leafs behind goalie Martin Jones. It looked innocent enough, but upon replay it initially looked as though Kuraly took a headshot from one of the Leafs. He made a play with the puck, dropped his stick, and went off the ice in obvious discomfort. He would sit for a few seconds and then try to head down the tunnel. And then all of a sudden a few Blue Jackets players started yelling and began throwing towels on the ice in an attempt to stop play. Zach Werenski made a beeline for the Zamboni tunnel to get them to open the door to let paramedics onto the ice. The crowd of 18,000 went silent. No one knew what was happening, which frightened the crowd who watched it all unfold. There were 18 seconds left in the first, so they decided to call it a period and would finish it at the start of the second period.
Information started to trickle out via X from the team and Bally Sports Ohio's Dave Maetzold, who said that Kuraly was going to be fine. He went straight to the medical room and was being evaluated, and the paramedics waited outside as he was attended to. It was later reported that Sean Kuraly was taken to the hospital for further evaluation and was expected to be ok. Very scary situation for the veteran Blue Jackets forward.
Although the Jackets came out in the second and scored 22 seconds into the second, you could feel that the energy was sucked out of the Nationwide Arena, as fans wondered all night if their beloved Sean Kuraly would be ok. As professional athletes, I'm sure it was hard for his teammates to get back out there and play a game, but they had to go out and finish.
We'll keep you updated on Kuraly's status as information is made available.
Final Stats
Player Notes
- Justin Danforth scored his 8th goal of the season. He now has 15 points in 35 games, which is a personal best for assists and points.
- Johnny Gaudreau notched an assist to push his points streak to five games. He now has 16 points in his last 18 games.
- Adam Fantilli recorded his 11th assist on the season. He now sits at 20 points on the season.
Team Notes
- CBJ rookies now have 45 points in 35 games this season with Fantilli's assist.
- The Jackets power play was cold on Saturday as they went 0 for 4. It has been one of the hottest power plays in the league in December.
- The Blue Jacket PK went 1 for 2.
- The Jackets gave up 2 goals on 5 shots in the second period.
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