Forward was struck on right side of neck, injuring Vagus nerve needing hospitalization after being carted off on stretcher

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Less than 24 hours after a scary situation in which he was being carted off the St. Louis Blues bench on a stretcher, Dylan Holloway was back at Centene Community Ice Center sporting a smile -- and talking about playing hockey again.

As soon as Thursday.

It's an amazing set of circumstances all things considered, when Holloway was struck on the right side of his neck by an errant puck off the stick of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nick Paul after it caromed off Blues teammate Jordan Kyrou's stick.

Holloway said Wednesday he knew immediately something was amiss, but a 2-on-1 ensued and, "I think it was more adrenaline than anything kind of keeping me going," Holloway said. "Obviously it was a scary situation. From what I've been told, the puck hit my Vagus nerve in my neck and as soon as I got hit, I knew something was a little off, but then I saw we got a 2-on-1, so I couldn't pass up that opportunity. As soon as I got to the bench, I was feeling a little woozy and then I didn't really remember much from there until I was on the stretcher close to the ambulance."

Holloway would finish his shift after being hit with 2:35 remaining in the first period of a 3-2 Blues victory, and when play was stopped with 1:11 left, there was a hushed silence in the crowd and both benches emptied while he was being attended to.

"I don't know what I thought was going on, but I didn't even know that they stopped the game," Holloway said. "I told Ray [Barile], our head trainer, that I was feeling weird on the bench and the next thing I knew, I was awake on a stretcher close to the ambulance. I didn't realize that they stopped the game, I didn't realize that it was actually that big of a deal, but I'm just thankful that all the medical staff and everybody was so hands-on and were able to get me to the hospital safely."

On Wednesday, Holloway was standing at a podium with a smile and relief that everything is fine.

"I feel good today. I feel way better," Holloway said. "No activity today. I was on the bike a little bit, so I was just kind of pedaling, getting my legs going a little bit, but nothing crazy. They just told me 24 hours, nothing strenuous. Hopeful to play tomorrow."

When Holloway was escorted to a nearby hospital, he was accompanied by his mom (Torri) and dad (Bruce), who are in town visiting.

"It's definitely tough knowing that they're watching that," Holloway said, "but they're staying with he and I was able to talk to them last night and it's nice having some company around for sure."

Holloway said he was at the hospital and received multiple tests. Doctors told him the reaction he had was natural and was released roughly around 11 p.m.

"They said that's a pretty normal response," Holloway said. "The way it was compared to me, I don't know if you ever watched UFC, but sometimes a guy will get into a choke hold and get choked out in like two seconds and you kind of wonder why. He can't just hold his breath. It's just that nerve, you get hit in the nerve, then you just go out."

A decision on whether Holloway will come Thursday morning prior to the Blues hosting the Utah Hockey Club, but by all accounts, Kasperi Kapanen was a placeholder for Holloway on a line with Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Neighbours.

"There is a possibility; don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here," Bannister said. "We're less than 12 hours away from what that injury was. We'll kind of take it day to day with him and see how he's doing tomorrow, but today's a good day for us.

"When we left the rink yesterday, we had news that he was doing well and there was a good chance that he would be released last night and he was ad then even better to see him here this morning and looking the way that he did, feeling good."

Holloway's teammates are obviously relieved.

"Just scared for the person, and obviously my friend and our teammate," Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. "That's really all you're thinking about at that point in time is praying that he's going to be OK, try and keep your head from going to the worse, but it's a scary situation, something you don't want to be a part of. You just try and hope for the best and stay positive about it and hope that he's going to be OK."