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A scary moment happened in the second period of Game 2 last night when Claude Giroux delivered a hit/collision on Kris Letang.
Scary moment in Flyers vs. Penguins as Giroux and Letang collide. pic.twitter.com/iCyhmnJtCH
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 14, 2018
Letang would leave for the dressing room immediately, and weirdly enough appeared to suffer some sort of scrape/cut to create blood on the inside of his palm.
Penguins Kris Letang heads to the bench with a bloody hand after taking a hit against the Flyers the second period. pic.twitter.com/tTsT3NGisx
— Matt Freed (@mattfreedpghpg) April 14, 2018
There was no penalty on the play, which happened well away from the puck The league confirmed today Giroux would not face any discipline and be available for the Flyers for Game 3 against the Penguins tomorrow afternoon in Philly. For his part, Giroux said the hit was unintentional.
Pens coach Mike Sullivan was not pleased last night when asked about it.
“I have an opinion,” Sullivan said. “But I’m not going to share it.”
NHL Network Analyst Mike Rupp was one to share his opinion though.
IMO this is absolutely no accident... I've watched the slo-mo 20 times. As a player there are "hidden" opportunities in gameplay to get away with a little extra. This is EXACTLY that (but not a little)! Dangerous play, getting that kind of extra shot in... https://t.co/CfOM8lZ4jd
— Mike Rupp (@Rupper17) April 14, 2018
Rupp would go on to tweet, “#28 saw #58 the ENTIRE time! Coiled and jumped!”
Letang did not practice today in Pittsburgh before the team left for Philly but appears to be playing tomorrow, per the Tribune Review. Sullivan classified today as a “maintenance day”.
Sullivan confirmed Letang would travel to Philadelphia. When asked if Letang would, he responded "Of course." #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) April 14, 2018
Letang did come back to the game after a bit of an absence. This time of year, everyone is coy about what is going on beyond the scenes.
Letang was asked if he went through concussion protocol. "I don't know," he said with a sly smile. "I came back and had a little chat." Said he felt well enough to come back.
— Angie (@acarducci) April 14, 2018
Angie would give a little important context on the above quote too for those who may read a bit too much into things.
Also, for whatever it's worth, I viewed this more as Letang saying "It's the playoffs; you think I'm going to give you injury info?" than taking the potential for head injury lightly.
— Angie (@acarducci) April 14, 2018
The Pens and Flyers are tied 1-1 after two games. Pittsburgh players are best advised to keep heads on a swivel since getting into the mud is one of the few reasons Philly can compete aside from hoping the posts behind Brian Elliott keep the puck out of the net.