Ottawa Senators’ forward Scott Sabourin was stretchered off the ice and taken to the hospital following a very scary incident in Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Sabourin collided with Bruins’ forward David Backes early in the first period and viciously hit his head on the ice. The 27-year-old forward appeared to lose consciousness following the collision.
Medical staff from both the Bruins and Senators quickly rushed to Sabourin. Boston’s trainer immediately call for a stretcher. There was a pool of blood building on the ice near Sabourin’s face.
The collision shocked TD Garden, as the entire arena became dead silent. Sabourin was laying motionless on the ice for a short period before help arrived.
Backes was visibly shaken up by what happened. He appeared to be fighting back tears and was eventually consoled by a Senators player.
At one point during the incident, Senators’ defenseman Mark Borowiecki appeared to be motioning for fans in the crowd to stop recording video of Sabourin.
The delay lasted about 10 minutes as Sabourin was finally put on a stretcher. Both the Bruins and Senators players skated over to Sabourin when he was lifted onto the stretcher. Sabourin received a massive ovation from the crowd as he was stretchered off the ice and gave a “thumbs up” on his way off.
Once Sabourin was taken off the ice, Backes left the ice and didn’t return to the game.
It is one of the scariest scenes to occur at an NHL game. You can view video of the full incident below.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Scott Sabourin and his family today.
