Wild accident injures Penguins player before ever stepping foot on the ice

PUBLICATION

Daniel Lucente
September 30, 2024 (12:16)

SHARE THIS STORY

Blake Lizotte hasn't even taken one shift with the Pittsburgh Penguins yet, but unfortunately, he has suffered a freak accident and may not get to play.

A shocking injury that befell the Pittsburgh Penguins player in Sunday night's preseason game did not require one shift to be taken. The weirdest thing about this was the unannounced disappearance of Penguins forward Blake Lizotte, who had taken part in warmups and was on the bench to start the game.

First-period shifts for Lizotte did not appear, which grew the confusion and concern for fans. By the second, he had vanished from the bench, which raised even more questions. It wasn't until he failed to return for the rest of the game that the mystery of what happened to him truly reached a peak.

An official update later from the Penguins said Lizotte had an upper-body injury and would not return. That, of course, only fueled speculation even more. How could he have been hurt if he hadn't played a shift? There was no visible incident on the ice, adding an element of confusion to what was already an unusual situation.

It wasn't until Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan addressed the issue that fans finally got some clarity, though the news wasn't good. Sullivan shared that Lizotte had been struck in the face by an errant puck during the opening shift of the game. Despite not having played in the game just yet, Lizotte was injured while on the bench when the puck flew over the boards. It was serious enough to take him out of the match, though details of its seriousness are not quite clear.

The game, however, was staged at the Sudbury Community Arena, a different ground than what the players were used to, may be the cause of the freak circumstance. For one, players are not used to the bench structure, so maybe Lizotte was caught by surprise, which led to his freak accident. As for Blake Lizotte, there is still no more word about his update, but one cannot help but feel for his freak injury.