Richard Zednick throat slashed

By Scott Burgess

Florida Panther star Richard Zednick had his throat slashed by teammate Olli Jokinen's skate midway in the 3rd period. View video here!

Blood gushed from his neck as he made his way to the bench. He was met by the team trainer who applied a towel to the deep gash. He was then carted off to Buffalo General Hospital where he underwent surgery.

After the ice crew scraped a giant pool of blood from the ice and the Zamboni re-iced the surface. It was not clear if the game would go on or if it would be canceled. After numerous calls between NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman,the hospital and Panthers staff it was clear that Zednick was stable and clear of any danger. It was then that the game would go ahead as planned.

Zednik's injury was a flash back of an slash sustained by Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk about 19 years ago at Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium. On March 22, 1989, Malarchuk severed his jugular vein when St. Louis Blues forward Steve Tuttle was upended while skating toward the crease, slicing Malarchuk with a skate. View video here!

Malarchuk required over 300 stitches but spent only one night in the hospital, returning to practice after four days. On April 2, he played the final five minutes in the season finale, less than two weeks after his injury.