Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown was forced to leave the game on Saturday afternoon after taking a vicious hit to the head from Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have definitely taken more than their fair share of hits this season, both on and off the ice. Just as the Lightning seem to be getting things in order and getting some of their injured players back in the lineup; another player is making their way to the injured list.
Unfortunately, as the Lightning took on the Philadelphia Flyers in their third and final meeting of the season, the Lightning have lost another player an injury that was entirely unnecessary and largely unpleasant for the player involved.
There were just under five minutes left in the Lightning’s 4-2 loss to the Flyers when the Lightning were attempting to gain control of the puck in the neutral zone. Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown was attempting to follow the puck when he turned to pick up speed and move down the ice.
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Before Brown even had an opportunity to know what was going on, the 26-year-old forward was absolutely nailed in the head by Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds. As you can imagine, Brown crumbled to the ground, his head bouncing off the ice on contact.
J.T. Brown remained on the ice in a great deal of pain as his teammates banged their stick in an attempt to get the attention of the referees. After the whistle was blown and the play has halted, Brown was evaluated by Tampa Bay Lightning Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan.
It was obvious at this point he would not be finishing the game on the ice with his teammates. The Tampa Bay Lightning has yet to make a statement as to the current condition of J.T. Brown or what sort of time he could be forced to miss away from the ice.
There was no call on the ice and Wayne Simmonds didn’t receive any sort of reprimand for his actions. One would hope the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety would take a closer look at this; however, given their track record this season, we don’t have much hope anything will come of it.
Hopefully, they’ll prove us all wrong.
Next: Lightning Kick Off Back-To-Back With Loss To Flyers
No matter what happens at NHL Headquarters, we here at Bolts By The Bay wish J.T. Brown nothing but the best and hope not only that his injury is nothing serious, but that he makes a full and speedy recovery.