The Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals may have each lost a defenseman during Game 3.
At minimum, they face situations to watch after hits hurt Shayne Gostisbehere and Brooks Orpik respectively.
In the case of “Ghost,” he was shaken up by a check that drew an interference penalty on Daniel Winnik.
Video:
Check it out in GIF form:
That will get you a spot in the sin-bin.#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/XBtCsoLNB1
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 19, 2016
The good news for the Flyers is that Gostisbehere returned to action during that same second period.
Holtby at the top of his game. Stops Ghost blast.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) April 19, 2016
That said, we’ve seen plenty of instances in which a player returned quickly after a possible injury ... only to miss time after the adrenaline wears off or something gets aggravated.
***
A hard (if maybe routine?) check by Ryan White left Orpik in a pretty bad way, with the Capitals announcing that the rugged defenseman is questionable to return.
#Caps Brooks Orpik is being evaluated and is questionable to return.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 19, 2016
Video:
Again, watch it via GIF:
The hit that likely concussed Brooks Orpik pic.twitter.com/ycd3iQVjTx
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 19, 2016
At this very moment, it seems like Gostisbehere may have dodged a bullet while Orpik might not be so lucky. We’ll get a better idea later on.