You never want to see it, but every Coyotes fan held their breath last night as Clayton Keller crashed into the boards. Keller lost balance at high speed and crashed legs-first into the board, and you could immediately tell that he was shaken up badly.
Play stopped immediately, and Keller had to be taken off on a stretcher with a serious lower-body injury. Keller was brought to a hospital for evaluation, but there are no reports on how severe the injury was.
“We know it will be long-term,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said, according to Sportsnet. “He’ll recover. For now, it’s not the injury, it’s the human. It’s Kells the person. He competes so hard. Seeing him in pain and having a significant injury, that’s extremely tough.”
Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes with 28 goals and 35 assists this season, and for him to get injured so bad is a tough blow. Nevertheless, the Coyotes managed to snap the win against the San Jose Sharks, but after the 5-2 victory, all thoughts were at Clayton Keller. And now, Phil Kessel, veteran player for the Coyotes, gets praised on social media for his gesture right after the game.
According to Coyotes writer Craig Morgan, Kessel went straight to the medical area of the game instead of the dressing room.
” When Phil Kessel came off the ice after the game, he didn’t go into the dressing room.
He went immediately to the medical area to find & support Clayton Keller,” said Morgan.
There’s no hiding that Kessel wanted to be traded this deadline, but Arizona couldn’t. However, Kessel still puts in a shift every night, playing the best he can, and obviously, he cares a lot for his teammates. What an inspiration!
