Flyers' Neuvirth collapses, but is 'alert;' Colin McDonald gives team a lift
Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth collapsed on the ice and had to be removed from Saturday night's game on a stretcher.
With 12 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first period and the Flyers holding a 1-0 lead over New Jersey at the Wells Fargo Center, Neuvirth fell on his back while a faceoff was down the other end. He stayed in his crease, prone, for several minutes before moving his legs.
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Neuvirth was alert and taken to Pennsylvania Hospital for observation. Hextall said the 29-year-old goalie would stay in the hospital overnight and would not make the trip to New York for Sunday night's game against the Rangers.
"It was terrifying," Devils forward Blake Coleman said. "That's the kind of moment where hockey comes second. I hope he's doing okay."
The Flyers won their fourth straight, defeating the Devils, 3-0.
The Flyers medical staff attended to Neuvirth on the ice and after about 10 minutes, he was gingerly placed on a stretcher and wheeled off the ice while fans gave him a standing ovation.
While he was on the stretcher, several Flyers tapped Neuvirth with their sticks, and the Devils tapped their sticks on the ice, as if wishing him well.
Right winger Colin McDonald, playing his first game with the Flyers this season, said Neuvirth was feeling ill before the game.
Ironically, Neuvirth, then with Washington, was the opposing goalie when former Atlanta Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec collapsed in his crease in a 2010 game. It was later called a fainting spell.
Neuvirth was replaced Saturday by Anthony Stolarz, who was the backup because Steve Mason has the flu.
Stolarz made 26 saves to finish the combined shutout.
He showed "real good poise. He didn't get to the rink and have his gear on until the drop of the puck, so it shows his maturity," coach Dave Hakstol said, aware that Stolarz had to travel from Wilkes Barre when he got late notice that he was needed. "
In a game on Feb. 8, 1972, Flyers goalie Bruce Gamble played the entire 60 minutes in a 3-1 win over Vancouver. At one point, Gamble collapsed to the ice without contact. He recovered and finished the game. He later had chest pains and was taken to the hospital and it was determined he had a heart attack during the game.
Gamble never played again.
It is possible Neuvirth had flu-like symptoms that caused him to collapse.
In Saturday's game, Jordan Weal increased the lead to 3-0 in the second period, scoring his seventh goal in the last 13 games. Weal has scored goals in four straight games.
Brayden Schenn and and Colin McDonald also scored goals. McDonald, 32, recalled from the Phantoms earlier in the day, scored on his first shift.
"That's Mac for you. He always has a way of having a positive impact on a hockey game," Hakstol said of the Phantoms' captain.
Breakaways. McDonald had two shots and three hits in 7:30.....Schenn and Claude Giroux each had six shots....Giroux won 22 of 26 faceoffs (85 percent)......If Mason is still ill, the Flyers will recall Alex Lyon from Lehigh Valley on Sunday....Hakstol tried to sneak emergency goalie Eric Semborski into the game with 24.5 seconds left, but the refs waved him off the ice because it wasn't an emergency situation. "It was just cool to be out there," said Semborski, a Temple grad who works for the Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia.
