Colorado Avalanche Jacob MacDonald was alert and responsive after being taken off the ice on a stretcher following a hit from Ryan Lomberg in their win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
MacDonald was sent crashing to the ice by Lomberg in the second period, prompting an immediate stoppage in play and a fight between Lomberg and MacDonald's furious team-mate Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
A statement from the Avalanche shortly after said MacDonald had full movement following the second incident in less than a week that has seen an NHL player taken off on a stretcher.
Jujhar Khaira was also carried off in the Chicago Blackhawks' loss to the New York Rangers after a hit from Jacob Trouba.
"Scary moment, but apparently he's seen our trainers and everything's good," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I think [the hit] might have been clean, yeah. I only got the one angle on it. They kept showing it over and over, and it looks clean from there.
"Physicality's part of the game. I don't like seeing guys go down, especially when they can't get up, but I don't think you can take it out of the game."
Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson added: "Just tough to see from probably either team. It's a fast game out there, you move upwards of 20 mph. It's physical and things move fast.
"It's an unfortunate play, super scary for Jacob. It's tough, you just never want to see that and hopefully he's OK.
"That's the stuff that makes you sick to your stomach when it happens to any team-mate or opponent.
"Unfortunately those hits are still part of our game. ... What is that now, two in a week that you've seen guys stretchered off? That's not good for our game."
NHL: Bruins, Rangers win behind hat tricks
Brad Marchand recorded a natural hat trick in the third period to rally the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
Marchand's three consecutive goals erased a 1-0 deficit and lifted the Bruins to a third consecutive victory following Monday's 5-2 loss at Columbus. Jeremy Swayman, who was pulled in the second period of that prior meeting, bounced back with 24 saves and Charlie McAvoy assisted on two of Marchand's goals.
After the Blue Jackets' Boone Jenner scored in the final minute of the second period to break a scoreless tie, Marchand had his shot deflect off Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and into the net to pull Boston even less than two minutes into the third.
A pair of Columbus penalties soon afterward enabled the Bruins to move ahead, as Marchand converted on both power-play chances just over two minutes apart to give Boston a 3-1 lead 7:46 into the final period.
Spencer Martin had 25 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost two of three since Monday's win over Boston.
Panarin's three goals, one assist lift Rangers over Sharks
The New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin also had a three-goal day to help his team extend its own winning streak with Sunday's 6-5 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Panarin added an assist on K'Andre Miller's eventual game-winning goal in the third period as New York held on for its third consecutive victory. Mika Zibanejad contributed a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who staved off a late comeback attempt after the Sharks scored twice in the final 5 1/2 minutes.
New York's Will Cuylle scored with 3:57 left in the second period to snap a 3-3 tie before Panarin completed his hat trick with less than five minutes elapsed in the third.
Panarin later set up Miller for a shot that beat Sharks' goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood to give the Rangers a 6-3 lead with just under seven minutes remaining.
Fabian Zetterlund and Alexander Barabanov scored 1:12 apart to bring San Jose within one, but the Sharks failed to get the equaliser and fell to 1-11-0 on the road.
First-period goals from Anthony Duclair and Ryan Carpenter staked San Jose to an early 2-1 lead before Panarin scored his second of the game later in the first period. Zibanejad put the Rangers ahead later in the opening frame before Jacob MacDonald's power-play goal midway through the second period forged a 3-3 tie.
Blackwood finished with 30 saves and Jonathan Quick made 23 stops for New York.
Kopitar sets Kings' assist record in win over Avalanche
Quinton Byfield scored two goals and Anže Kopitar set a franchise record for career assists to help the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
The Kings scored three unanswered goals in the third period to rebound from Friday's 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals that stopped a five-game winning streak. Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty helped Los Angeles pull away after Byfield snapped a 1-1 tie with 6:34 remaining.
Kopitar helped set up Byfield's second goal for his 758th assist in a Kings uniform, breaking a tie he had held with Marcel Dionne for the most in team history.
Cam Talbot made 20 saves for Los Angeles, which outshot the Avalanche by a 23-5 margin during a dominant third period.
Josh Manson scored Colorado's lone goal with 7:32 left in the first period, but Byfield answered midway through the second with his first goal of the night.
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 34 of 37 shots for the Avalanche, who had a six-game point streak snapped and fell to 0-1-2 over their last three games.
NHL: Coyotes beat Blues for fourth straight win against Cup champion
The Arizona Coyotes continued an impressive stretch with their fourth straight win on Saturday, as Alex Kerfoot had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Michael Carcone scored for the fourth time in three games and Connor Ingram stopped 31 shots to give Arizona four consecutive wins, all against the last four Stanley Cup champions – Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2020-21), Vegas (2023) and St. Louis (2019).
Carcone, Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli scored and the Coyotes limited the Blues to three shots in a dominant first period.
Brandon Saad spoiled Ingram’s shutout bid midway through the third before Kerfoot sealed the win with an empty net goal with 1:15 left.
Stars pound struggling Lightning
Jason Robertson scored twice and the Dallas Stars matched a season high in goals in an 8-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists and Jamie Benn and Mason Marchment each added a goal and an assist as Dallas improved to 7-2-2 in its last 11 games.
The Stars also scored eight goals in an 8-3 win at Minnesota on Nov. 12.
Tampa Bay has lost a season-high four straight and had to replace Andrei Vasilevskiy after two periods. He allowed six goals on 25 shots in his fourth start since returning last week following offseason back surgery.
Marchand lifts Bruins over Maple Leafs in OT
Brad Marchand scored with eight seconds left in overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists and Linus Ullmark made 37 saves to help Boston win its second straight following three consecutive regulation losses.
Marchand snapped an eight-game goal drought with his eighth goal of the season.
Auston Matthews had a pair of goals for Toronto, his second coming with six seconds left in regulation.
NHL: Sharks defeat Devils for 1st road win of season
Jacob McDonald and Anthony scored two goals apiece and the San Jose Sharks defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Friday for their first road win of the season.
Kaapo Kahkonen matched a season high with 44 saves and Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists for the league-worst Sharks, who entered 0-10-0 away from home with just six goals in those games.
Dawson Mercer, Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat scored as New Jersey had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Akira Schmid stopped just 12 of 17 shots one day after making 44 saves in a 4-3 overtime win at Philadelphia.
Timo Meier returned for the Devils to face his former team after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.
Merzlikins leads Blue Jackets over Senators
Elvis Merzlikins turned aside 41 shots and the Columbus Blue Jackets scored four unanswered goals in a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Goals by Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, but Patrik Laine scored on a power play with 5:07 left in the period and Dmitri Voronkov tallied less than a minute later to tie it.
Adam Fantilli and Boone Jenner scored in the second period and Merzlikins was perfect on 16 third-period shots to help the Jackets improve to 4-2-0 in their last six games.
Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves for the Senators in his first game against the team where he spent the first 7 ½ seasons of his career.
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