With just one game remaining before the Olympic break, hockey fans were already counting down the days until Matthew Tkachuk and Charlie McAvoy would reunite as teammates for Team USA. Instead, Wednesday night’s matchup between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers delivered a frightening moment that could put McAvoy’s Olympic status in serious doubt.
Early in the first period, McAvoy took a flying elbow to the head from Panthers forward Sandis Vilmanis. The Bruins defenseman was slow to get up and clearly shaken, eventually needing assistance from a team staffer to make his way off the ice and down the tunnel.
Watch here below:
The sequence only grew more frustrating for Boston. Vilmanis was assessed a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head, but Bruins forward Jonathan Aspirot was also handed a roughing minor shortly after. Moments later, the Bruins were hit with a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, handing Florida a power play despite the dangerous hit on McAvoy.
There was at least one bright spot for Boston: Michael Eyssimont, who served the bench minor, stepped out of the penalty box and scored on a breakaway to swing momentum back the Bruins’ way.
Still, the bigger concern looms beyond the final score. As of now, there are no updates on McAvoy’s condition or what the injury could mean for his availability at the Olympics, which are set to begin in just a few days.
For Team USA, the timing couldn’t be worse, and the elbow couldn’t have been more costly.
