Throat Injury Leaves Canadiens’ McCleary Critical

Montreal Canadien forward Trent McCleary underwent emergency throat surgery to save his life Saturday after he was struck with a slap shot.

“The next 24 hours will be critical,” team doctor Vincent Lacroix said. “I’m not at the point yet where I can say that he’s out of danger.”

McCleary, who had a fractured larynx and collapsed lung, needed a tracheotomy to allow him to breathe after being injured during a 2-2 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal.

“He was unable to breath and his upper airway was essentially obstructed from the significant bleeding that comes with this kind of injury,” Lacroix said. “Associated with this trauma came the collapsed lung, so he has had to have a tube put in to decompress that lung.”

McCleary was in “critical but stable condition,” Gillian Ross-MacCormack, a spokesman for McGill University Health Centre, said late Saturday night. McCleary was taken to Montreal General Hospital after the accident.

“I love that kid. I just pray for him,” Canadien goalie Jeff Hackett said. “It just puts things in perspective.

“That kid will do anything for the team. That’s the worst thing I can remember since [former Buffalo goalie] Clint Malarchuk got cut by a skate.”

The 27-year-old center was injured midway through the second period after the puck hit the boards in the Montreal zone and Philadelphia’s Chris Therien one-timed a shot toward the goal. McCleary slid to block the puck and was hit squarely in the throat.

He was helped to his feet but then collapsed and appeared to lose consciousness.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years in hockey,” Montreal General Manager Rejean Houle said. “I’ve never been so scared.”

Therien also was shaken.

“I shot the puck, I saw him sliding, and it seemed like the puck was in slow motion,” he said. “It didn’t touch any of his equipment or his stick. It hit him square.

“I heard him breathing and I knew he was in trouble. That’s why I called the trainer right away. He went down to make a great play for his team. I’m hoping he’ll be OK.”

Canadien Coach Alain Vigneault kept his players from McCleary when they entered the dressing room after the second period.

“I was talking to a couple of our trainers and they had tears in their eyes,” Vigneault said. “They told me to pray and that’s what we did.

“I saw the incident, I saw him move, then get up. Then when I saw him collapse as he headed off the ice, I knew he was in trouble. I knew then it was serious.”

Benoit Brunet said the Canadiens were stunned by their teammate’s injury.

“I think that maybe sometimes we take the game for granted and then things like that can happen,” Brunet said. “I think everybody is shaken that something like that could happen to a good guy like that.”

This is the third serious injury McCleary has suffered in his career. He has worn a visor since he took a stick in the right eye, during the 1994-95 season, while playing for Prince Edward Island of the AHL. A torn retina and iris kept him out for three months.

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Detroit 3, New Jersey 1--Kirk Maltby scored the last of three second-period goals, leading the Red Wings past the Devils in a penalty-filled meeting between the NHL’s conference leaders at Detroit.

Vyacheslav Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov also scored for the Red Wings, who won their fourth straight.

Jason Arnott scored for the Devils, who have dropped two straight for just the second time this season.

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Ottawa 3, New York Rangers 2--Grant Ledyard scored his first goal of the season with 61 seconds left, rallying the Senators to victory over the Rangers at Kanata, Canada.

Ledyard’s score came just 53 seconds after Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips tied the game.

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Boston 1, Buffalo 0--Byron Dafoe made 25 saves for his third shutout, and the Bruins won at home for only the second time since Thanksgiving by defeating the Sabres.

Boston avoided a 10-game home winless streak which would have been its longest since the 1924-25 season. The Bruins are 2-9-6 at the Fleet Center in their last 17 games.

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Tampa Bay 2, Atlanta 1--Fredrik Modin scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 10:42 left in the third period as the Lightning snapped a seven-game losing streak with a victory over the Thrashers at Tampa, Fla.

Ray Ferraro scored for the Thrashers, 0-5-2 over the last seven games. Atlanta went 3-1-1 against the Lightning this season.

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St. Louis 4, Colorado 0--Jamie McLennan stopped 21 shots and earned his first win in more than two months as the Blues defeated the Avalanche at St. Louis.

Craig Conroy scored two goals, including one short-handed, to lead the Blues.

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Florida 2, Edmonton 1--Ray Whitney and Bret Hedican scored and Mike Vernon stopped a season-high 38 shots as the Panthers ended a two-game losing skid with a victory over the Oilers at Sunrise, Fla.

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Nashville 3, Calgary 1--Vitali Yachmenev scored a short-handed goal and an empty-net goal and Tomas Vokoun made 34 saves, leading the Predators to a victory over the Flames at Nashville, Tenn.

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New York Islanders 3, San Jose 2--Mathieu Biron scored a power-play goal midway through overtime to give the Islanders the victory over the Sharks at San Jose.