Philip Danault is taken off on a stretcher after being hit by a Zdeno Chara shot

Things took a turn for the terrifying late in the second period of tonight’s Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens game as Philip Danault of the Habs got hit in the left side of the head/neck by a Zdeno Chara shot.

The video, from Chris:

Danault, a 24-year-old winger, went down immediately and didn’t move much. He was moving his hands and rolled to his stomach later, but was carted off on a stretcher.

The second period ended early so that the medical staff could tend to the injured Hab.

Chara, clearly upset about what happened, could be seen tapping Danault on the back as he lay on the ice and checked on him as he was being wheeled off.

Here’s to a speedy recovery for Danault. We’ll update this post when we know more.

UPDATE (9:25 PM):

Some good news already:

Ideally (relative term, of course) Danault took the shot off his ear or helmet, and the helmet hit him in the head, causing a cut.

Jack Edwards said he saw gauze with blood on it, so it would make sense. In that case, he may have been dazed or suffered a concussion, and the stretcher was a precaution.

It’s never “ideal” to say someone got a concussion, but it’s far better than the alternative.

EDIT (11:50 PM): Engels got some comments from Chara after the game. Can tell the big guy was feeling badly about what happened.

EDIT (Sunday, 9:47 AM): Another positive update from Engels.