There was a 15-second span of the third period, where things went from bad to worse for the New Jersey Devils in Sunday afternoon's 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
First, Luke Hughes collided with a Hurricanes player and slid behind goaltender Jacob Markstrom into New Jersey's goal.
The whistle never blew. Eventually, Hughes made his way to the bench as play continued, and Markstrom made a save on Andrei Svechnikov. Immediately after, New Jersey's goaltender swung his stick, with Svechnikov appearing to be the target, but made contact with his teammate, Cody Glass. The Devils' forward immediately fell to the ice, and the whistle was blown.
With assistance, Glass left the game and did not return. During his post-game media availability, head coach Sheldon Keefe shared that there was no update on the 26-year-old.
On Monday, Markstrom was asked about the incident.
"Whatever everyone has been seeing, that is what happened," Markstrom said to NJD.TV. "I mean, it is pretty clear cut, and obviously, I feel really bad. It is a situation that did not have to happen. It was a heat-of-the-moment play, unfortunately, and I felt bad for (Glass). You don't want to see or be the reason that anyone goes down. Hopefully, it is not as bad."
Glass was one of two Devils skaters who left Sunday afternoon's game. Veteran defenseman Brenden Dillon collided with an opposing player and fell awkwardly to the ice.
Keefe said the following about his injured players during his Monday afternoon media availability.
"No real update other than we are going to use the day here today just to get a better idea of where everyone is at," he said to NJD.TV. "Have a better sense tomorrow, in terms of ability for people to play."
Game 2 will be at the Lenovo Center in North Carolina on Tuesday night.
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