Tampa Bay Lightning D Dan Girardi leaves game after taking puck to head
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi was forced to leave the game in the 2nd Period after taking a hard shot directly to the head.
It is never a good day when a player gets hurt. The day gets even worse when it’s your favorite team’s players who are the one who suffers said injury. Needless to say, this was not a good day for the Tampa Bay Lightning or their fans.
The Lightning was in the midst of a battle with their Atlantic Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. Things were definitely going well for the Bolts. Coming into the final minutes of the 2nd period, the Lightning had a 2-1 lead over the Wings. Unfortunately, this is when things took a decided turn for the worse.
The play was in the Lightning’s defensive zone and the Red Wings had control of the puck. Red Wings winger Martin Frk had control of the puck just inside the circle. Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi was placed to the side of the net ready to block the shot.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The good news is, the puck didn’t make it to the back of the net. The bad news is, Girardi didn’t block the puck with his stick. Frk fired off a bomb of a shot which flew through the air and nailed Girardi right in the head. Girardi went down like a ton of bricks as Athletic Trainers from both teams rushed the ice to check on him.
Girardi didn’t move an inch for much longer than one would’ve hoped. The entire arena went so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop. Players from both teams looked in with fearful looks on their faces. Finally, Girardi was able to make it into a sitting position and eventually to his skates.
Regrettably, it looked as if Girardi wouldn’t know his own name if you asked him, let alone where he was at the moment. It was plain to see he had been rocked by the shot. Then again, who wouldn’t be after taking a direct shot to what looked like the back of the net.
There is no word from the Tampa Bay Lightning as of yet what the extent of the injury to Dan Girardi is, but there is one thing one could safely assume, he won’t be returning to tonight’s game. There are so many things which could have happened on the play, but playing the guessing game will only make you crazy.
Dan Girardi had been having an amazing night up until the point of the shot to the head. Girardi opened things up for the Lightning just before the halfway point in the period with his third goal of the season. Assists on the goal went to Vladislav Namestnikov and Yanni Gourde.
Speaking of assists, Girardi would pick up an assist on a goal from Tyler Johnson later on in the period. Ondrej Palat would pick up the second assist on the play. This would give Girardi a multi-point night to build off of. Unfortunately, this was simply not meant to be.
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Hopefully, the damage from the incident was minimal and Girardi won’t suffer any long-term effects from the shot to the head. We here at Bolts By The Bay send our thoughts and respects to Dan Girardi as he recovers from this extremely unfortunate event.