Brooks Orpik suffered a head injury in the first period of Saturday’s Bruins-Penguins game when he was punched in the head by Boston forward Shawn Thornton after being knocked down to the ice.
The Penguins defenseman had to leave the ice on a stretcher and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where “he went through a battery of tests,” according to Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma.
Orpik will travel with the Penguins back to Pittsburgh, where they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. “Brooks has returned from the hospital and evaluations. He will be traveling home with us,” said Bylsma.
Although he couldn’t say with absolutely certainty that Orpik has a concussion, Bylsma thinks there’s a good chance his top defenseman suffered one from his incident with Thornton.
“I think he was out on the ice for a period of time. So I think that means he’s got a concussion, for sure.”
Thornton has an in-hearing suspension with the NHL to discuss his actions in the first period, which means that any suspension given would be six games or longer.
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