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KHL player leaves in ambulance after taking slapshot to head in playoff game

KHL defenceman Alexei Maklyukov had to be stretchered off after blocking a shot with his head. (Screen grab via KHL)
KHL defenceman Alexei Maklyukov had to be stretchered off after blocking a shot with his head. (Screen grab via KHL)

A KHL playoff game turned into a tense situation when a player took a slapshot to his head and had to be stretchered off the ice.

In the third period of Game 6 in the conference semifinals between Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Avangard Omsk, Metallurg defenseman Alexei Maklyukov went down in desperation to block a slapshot from Omsk’s Alexey Gritsyuk. What seemed like a typical hockey play in high stakes quickly became a medical emergency when Maklyukov took the rocket of a one-timer straight to his head.

You can watch the full video of the incident here.

Gritsyuk recognized the dire situation and immediately threw up his hand to signal for help from the medical staff on the bench. Play was called dead as Maklyukov remained down on the ice with his face in his hands.

After getting the player off the ice via a stretcher and into an ambulance, the ice crew had to bring out the shovels and chip away at the frozen blood by the faceoff dot.

There is no official word on Maklyukov’s condition. To take some of the sting away, the 28-year-old saw his team advance to the conference finals as they beat the reigning champions Omsk 4-0 to win the seven-game series.

Due to the 2008 death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov, the KHL has been providing two ambulances at every game, ready to take any injured player hastily to the hospital. Without that addition 14 years ago, Maklyukov could have been suffering for much longer without proper medical attention.

Unfortunately this danger is nothing new for Russian hockey, either. Just over a year ago, 19-year-old junior player Timur Faizutdinov was hit in the head by a puck during on-ice action and succumbed to his injuries, dying three days later.

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