John Tavares leaves the game after a terrifying collision

The first period provided us with one of the scariest moments of the season as John Tavares took a hit and while falling awkwardly was then hit by Corey Perry’s knee on his way to the ice. The play looked bad in real time and the replays only confirmed that it was bad.

In an attempt to sit John Tavares up, his head immediately fell backward and I think that is the moment that most viewers knew that this was an especially horrific injury.

After being worked on by team doctors, EMS, and trainers, John Tavares was escorted off the ice on a stretcher. The sign of hope came with John Tavares giving a thumbs up on the way out, but needless to say it was hard to watch and why we are not including any footage of the injury in this post.

While we await an update on Tavares, we just want to wish him the fullest of recoveries, and now is not the right time to guess at what the injury is or what the timelines for his recovery are. When that information is shared you’ll find it hear.

It was hard to watch and you could see how unsettled the Leafs players were by the incident, and it is a rare sight to see a GM run from the press box on his phone in a panic. This team cares about their captain, and hopefully they rally for him.