Primeau hurt in opening minute of game
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Philadelphia Flyers center Keith Primeau spent
the night in a hospital after being leveled at mid-ice by
Pittsburgh's Bob Boughner in the first minute of the
Flyers-Penguins playoff game Tuesday.
Primeau lay motionless for several minutes and appeared to be
momentarily unconscious before being removed on the stretcher.
|  | | Philadelphia's Keith Primeau is wheeled off the ice after taking a hit from Bob Boughner 48 seconds into the game. |
He was taken to UPMC Presbyterian University Hospital, where
X-rays proved negative. He was released Wednesday morning after remaning
overnight for observation.
"He winked at one of the guys as he left the ice, so we knew he
was going to be OK," forward Keith Jones said following the
Flyers' 2-1, series-clinching victory Tuesday night.
"Between periods, we were assured he was going to be OK, and
that was a big relief," John LeClair said.
The collision occurred with 48 seconds gone and followed an
incident in Game 5 Sunday at Philadelphia in which Flyers
defenseman Luke Richardson teed up a slap shot and hit Boughner
directly in the chest.
Richardson was not suspended by the NHL despite the Penguins'
argument that Richardson intentionally shot the puck at Boughner.
On Monday, Boughner promised to get back at Richardson, even if it
didn't occur during Game 6.
"There are ways to come back, and ways to take care of what
needs to be taken care of," Boughner said. "It may not be the
next game ... it may be next year."
Seconds after a faceoff at midice, Boughner skated across the
neutral zone from along the right wing boards and leveled Primeau,
who was skating up ice with his head down.
After the game, Boughner said, "He had his head down going up
the middle and he was looking for a pass. We wanted to come out and
hit them hard ... but you hate to see anybody on a stretcher."
Primeau scored the game-winning goal in the fifth overtime of
the Flyers' 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Richardson said the Flyers were determined not to let the
Primeau incident distract them from winning the game.
"We didn't want to get caught up in any of that," Richardson
said. "We said to ourselves that the best thing we could do was
play hard and win the game. Everybody did a good job of refocusing
and keeping our minds on what we had to do."
The Flyers traded for Primeau earlier this season after star Eric Lindros was sidelined with a concussion. |
Keith Primeau is injured after colliding with the Penguins' Bob Boughner.
