John Ludvig's NHL debut was cut short in the second period of Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Stars after a scary collision that led to an injury.
Ludvig lined up for an open-ice hit on Radek Faksa and took the brunt of the collision himself, and appeared to be knocked out on the ice. His arm did soften the blow, so he didn't land on his face:
Sending well wishes to Pens defenseman John Ludvig, who had to be helped off the ice following a big collision ๐ pic.twitter.com/adUuBVFtWX
Ludvig was down on the ice for quite some time, and team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas came onto the ice. Noel Acciari and Marcus Pettersson helped Ludvig off the ice, and Ludvig appeared woozy as he skated off. He paused at the bench and said something to his teammates before heading down the tunnel. I asked Pettersson what Ludvig said in that moment, and he said Ludvig was reassuring his teammates that he was OK.
It was a disappointing end to Ludvig's debut, which had been going pretty well up until that point. He skated in 10 shifts for 5:29 time on ice. He registered one shot on goal and two hits, and was on the ice for one goal against. The Penguins controlled 58.33% of shot attempts with him on the ice and 50% of the shots on goal.
"Both he and (Ryan Shea) were unbelievable all night," Pettersson said. "It's so scary to see those happen, it doesn't matter who it is. You really feel for him. He's a great kid, that wasn't fun to see at all."
Ludvig was walking around the locker room after the game and spoke with some teammates. Mike Sullivan said that he was still being evaluated further.
"It’s a scary moment," Sullivan added. "It's a scary moment when you see a player like that. It appeared that he almost got knocked out on the hit, so those are scary to watch. We’re hopeful he's going to be okay. He's being evaluated right now.”
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
9:32 pm - 10.24.2023PPG Paints ArenaLudvig injured in NHL debut
John Ludvig's NHL debut was cut short in the second period of Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Stars after a scary collision that led to an injury.
Ludvig lined up for an open-ice hit on Radek Faksa and took the brunt of the collision himself, and appeared to be knocked out on the ice. His arm did soften the blow, so he didn't land on his face:
Ludvig was down on the ice for quite some time, and team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas came onto the ice. Noel Acciari and Marcus Pettersson helped Ludvig off the ice, and Ludvig appeared woozy as he skated off. He paused at the bench and said something to his teammates before heading down the tunnel. I asked Pettersson what Ludvig said in that moment, and he said Ludvig was reassuring his teammates that he was OK.
It was a disappointing end to Ludvig's debut, which had been going pretty well up until that point. He skated in 10 shifts for 5:29 time on ice. He registered one shot on goal and two hits, and was on the ice for one goal against. The Penguins controlled 58.33% of shot attempts with him on the ice and 50% of the shots on goal.
"Both he and (Ryan Shea) were unbelievable all night," Pettersson said. "It's so scary to see those happen, it doesn't matter who it is. You really feel for him. He's a great kid, that wasn't fun to see at all."
Ludvig was walking around the locker room after the game and spoke with some teammates. Mike Sullivan said that he was still being evaluated further.
"It’s a scary moment," Sullivan added. "It's a scary moment when you see a player like that. It appeared that he almost got knocked out on the hit, so those are scary to watch. We’re hopeful he's going to be okay. He's being evaluated right now.”
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