Wednesday was, for the most part, a night of happiness for the Philadelphia Flyers, as they defeated the Washington Capitals in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series to stave off elimination.
The win came at a cost, however, as Flyers center Scott Laughton left the ice on a stretcher and was transported to a Philadelphia hospital after crashing awkwardly into the end boards late in the first period.
“You don’t like to see a player go down like that, especially when he wasn’t moving and we weren’t too sure what was going on,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux told reporters after the game, via ESPN.com. “We were obviously thinking about him.”
The team later announced Laughton would remain hospitalized overnight for “precautionary reasons” and that all tests came back negative.
“You never like to see that,” Capitals defenseman John Carlson, who delivered the hit that sent Laughton into the boards, told reporters, via Philly.com. “I was thinking about him. I’m hoping he’s fine. It’s just one of those plays. We’re kind of even, and he’s trying to stickhandle through me and take it to the net, and I’m trying to defend him
“It’s tough to talk about. You never want to see that happen. It’s just one of those plays that you feel like you do a lot in the game, and it never ends up like that. I feel for him. I hope he’s fine. But I don’t know. I’m not going to let him walk to the net.”
Philadelphia already was down one center in Sean Couturier, who is out for the remainder of the series with an upper body injury after Capitals star Alex Ovechkin’s huge Game 1 hit. Laughton’s status for the remainder of the postseason remains to be seen.
A goal by defenseman Andrew MacDonald less than four minutes into the second period Wednesday night proved to be the game-winner in a 2-1 Flyers victory. The best-of-seven series now shifts back to the nation’s capital for Game 5 on Friday night.
Thumbnail photo via Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports Images
