Evander Kane rushed off the ice after his wrist was cut by a skate during the Oilers’ game against the Lightning on Tuesday night in Tampa.
The Oilers forward fell to the ice after jostling with defenseman Philippe Myers in the second period. Tampa Bay forward Pat Maroon appeared to accidentally slice Kane’s left wrist with his skate as the play developed.
Kane immediately grabbed his wrist and headed for the bench, leaving behind a pool of blood on the ice. Maroon called for help as Kane skated past the Lightning bench.
According to the Oilers, Kane is stable and slated for surgery — though his teammates recognized the seriousness of the situation.
“You could see his face coming off the ice, it almost looked like he hurt something else going down and then he gets up pretty quick and you see it in his face and then you look back and there’s all the blood,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “So obviously a scary situation but as far as we know, obviously I don’t want to comment too much on it but just scary situation.”
Edmonton was able to hang for a 3-2 win — Maroon had a potential game-tying goal overturned on review after it was revealed its never crossed the goal line — though Kane’s injury cast a pall over the rest of the game.
Players were updated on his situation during the game.
“I mean it happened so quick,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Obviously you seem him go down, you don’t really see what happens. Then he comes rushing off and you see the blood, so obviously you want that whistle right away. You’re not going to be able to obviously keep playing. Just everybody, both sides, were worried about him and they’re filling us in and just happy that he’s okay, but obviously we’ll keep checking.”
Kane had tallied 7:53 of ice time on the night. Coming into Tuesday, he’d scored five goals and eight assists in 13 games.