In excruciating pain, Mikhail Sergachev is carried off on stretcher in devastating incident

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev was back in action on Wednesday night against the New York Rangers, unfortunately, he was taken out as quick as he was back in.

At the beginning of the second period, Sergachev went for the hit on Rangers’ Alexis Lafreniere, but the forward reversed it which caused Sergachev to bounce off near the boards. The defenseman’s skate blade appeared to get caught in the bottom of the boards and Lafreniere's skate blade made contact with Sergachev's leg. Poor Sergachev fell in excruciating pain as he held his left knee.

It looked like he could have suffered a torn ACL seeing that Sergachev was unable to leave the ice on his own, though it is still unclear as to what the injury is. Sergachev kept holding his left leg, so it could have gotten hurt on the fall or Lafreniere’s skate blade made contact with it. The stretcher was taken out and he was loaded on it. As he was ushered off the ice, Sergachev was seen crying in a towel as he seems to know this will be a long absence for him.

When he lifted his head from the towel in which he had buried his face once he was loaded onto the stretcher, Sergachev gave the fans at Madison Square Garden a thumbs-up as he was carried off the ice.

Here is what happened:

Sergachev had just returned from a 17 game absence due to a lower-body injury, with the Lightning going 12-5-0 without him in the lineup. He is in the first year of an eight-year, $68 million contract. Before leaving tonight’s game, Sergachev had one hit in 10:22 of ice time.

When the blue liner was taken out on the stretcher, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper headed back to the team's dressing room to quickly check on his player. Even Lafreniere appeared to be shaken up by the incident. He went over to Sergachev once he was put on the stretcher, and was seen deep in thought at the Rangers' bench before play got underway again.

Originally selected ninth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2016, Sergachev has played seven seasons in Tampa, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in the 2019-20, 2020-21 seasons.

Just before the start of the third frame, the Lightning announced that Sergachev would not return to the contest due to a lower-body injury.

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