Brian Boyle Leaves Game After Shot To The Head From Mark Borowiecki (Video)

Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle leaves the game against the Ottawa Senators after taking a nasty shot to the head by Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki.

The Tampa Bay Lightning simply cannot catch a break this season when it comes to players suffering a plethora of injuries. The Lightning are already playing without six of the key players to the Tampa Bay Lightning offense, and as the Bolts take on the Ottawa Senators tonight at the Amalie Arena, the Bolts lose yet another integral part of the Lightning’s offense, center Brian Boyle.

It is definitely a scary situation that no hockey player, or hockey fan for that matter, wants to see. Lightning center Brian Boyle was preparing to play the puck along the boards. As he turned to play the puck, he was slammed in the chin by Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki. Boyle’s head went slamming into the boards and Boyle hit the ice like a ton of bricks.

After a few moments of distress, Tampa Bay Lightning Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan made his way out on the ice to attend to Boyle. Boyle was eventually able to make it to his feet and off the ice under his own power, but as Boyle made his way down the tunnel, it was clear he was incredibly shaken up on the play.

It’s pretty safe to say they will be looking at Boyle rather extensively. This could turn into concern for a concussion, and as much as we would like to have Brian Boyle back out on the ice a head injury is nothing to play with. It could not only end a player’s career, but their life as well.

While Boyle was being attended to, one of Boyle’s teammates would take exception to the hit. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn would immediately jump in as Boyle went down to drop the gloves and defend his fallen teammate. When all was said and done, Borowiecki would be issued a Fighting Major, a Interference Major, and a Game Misconduct for a total of 20 minutes in penalties.

The only good news to come out of this is the Tampa Bay Lightning was able to capitalize on their Power Play opportunity from the play on the ice and bring home two goals on the Power Play, one by Nikita Nesterov and the other by Steven Stamkos, to regain the lead in the first period.

We have yet to see Brian Boyle return to the ice since the hit, and we have heard no official announcement from the Tampa Bay Lightning as of yet. We will obviously update the situation as soon as more information has been made available, but in the meantime we here at Bolts By The Bay send positive energies to Brian Boyle and hope the injury is not as serious as it looked.

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