The New Jersey Devils suffered a big blow in the second period of Wednesday's game against the Boston Bruins.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom was forced to leave the game after Bruins forward Justin Brazeau crashed into him in the Devils crease.
Markstrom stayed down on the ice following the play and needed to be helped off by the Devils' training staff and teammate Stefan Noesen. He skated with his left leg up as he exited.
After the game ended in a 5-1 New Jersey win, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe provided a less-than-encouraging update on his goaltender.
“We’ll take some time before we know the full extent on [Markstrom],” Keefe said. “I talked to him. He is in good spirits. He’s feeling a lot better than before, so that’s positive.
"He’s going to miss some time.”
Brazeau was going hard to the net while trying to redirect a pass from John Beecher but lost an edge, sliding into Markstrom's lower body. He was assessed a two-minute penalty for goalie interference.
Markstrom was replaced by New Jersey's backup netminder, Jake Allen. The team didn't officially rule Markstrom out, but he didn't return to the bench in the game.
The 34-year-old Swedish goalie had made six saves and allowed one goal before leaving.
In his first year with the Devils, Markstrom has a 21-9-5 record with three shutouts, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
New Jersey entered Wednesday's game with a 26-17-6 record, good for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
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