Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos became the victim of unfortunate timing on Sunday when Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin briefly injured him with his knee.
Midway through the second period, Stamkos lost his balance while jostling with Canadiens forward Brandon Prust. The star center fell directly into the path of the hard-charging Emelin's knee, and collapsed to the ice:
Stamkos tried to get back up under his own power, but fell back to the ice in pain. He was eventually helped to the locker room by trainers and eventually returned in the third period. Emelin wasn't assesed a penalty for the play, which isn't all that surprising since it appeared to be an accident.
Stamkos missed a good chunk of the regular season with a broken leg before returning in March and helping the Lightning secure a playoff spot.