John Klingberg took a brutal hit just 3:30 into the first game of the Dallas Stars season versus the New York Rangers. As he went to make a play on the puck carrier behind the net, Chris Kreider hit him from his blind side, getting his arm up in Klingberg’s head and causing his leg and knee to buckle under him. Then, Kreider fell into Klingberg and his own teammate.
Klingberg gets hit up high by Kreider and goes to the dressing room. #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/r1S0QY4P1u
— Dylan Nadwodny (@dnadders) October 14, 2021
Honestly, it was quite shocking when Klingberg came back into the game after limping to the locker room from this hit. He played the rest of the first period and most of the second period, with his last shift coming about four minutes before the end of the middle frame. He wasn’t on the bench to start the third period, and Stars PR shortly sent out after play was underway that Klingberg would not return to the game due to a lower-body injury.
That wasn’t the only injury for the Stars, though.
Braden Holtby, who came up with some phenomenal saves in the game especially as the Rangers pushed back in the second period, left after about eight minutes into the third period. It was shortly after he took a stick into the mask when he was on the ice covering the puck.
We’ll have to wait until after the game to get an update on the injury status of each and how long we can expect to see these two out of the lineup. But it’s an inauspicious start to a season in which the Stars were expecting to be healthy for a change — at least for longer than three minutes of the season.
UPDATE: Looks like Holtby’s ailment is a short-term thing: dehydration. (Can you blame the man after that second period? No, no you cannot.) Klingberg is what I guess you could consider day-to-day — for now. The team likely needs to see how he responds after a night of rest.
Braden Holtby was dehydrated and that’s why he left the game, coach Rick Bowness said.
John Klingberg was sore from getting his leg twisted.
They will update Friday.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) October 15, 2021