The Washington Capitals had been rolling right along with a 2-1 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3. The flow of the game stopped dead in its tracks, however, after Caps defenseman Brooks Orpik took a rough check into the glass from Flyers forward Ryan White.
The hit felled Orpik, leaving him on all fours and looking in a bad way on the ice.
Orpik needed assistance from the Capitals’ athletic trainer just to get to his feet. John Carlson came over to offer some help as well. He still struggled to keep his feet under him and apparently wasn't responding to things the trainer was trying to say to him, according to NBC’s Pierre McGuire. That look in Orpik’s eyes throughout that whole thing is really tough to see.
Knowing the player’s concussion history, this is a particularly concerning injury to the Caps blueliner. Orpik was infamously knocked unconscious by then-Boston Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton, who hit the then-Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman with a sucker punch in December 2013.
Now the question becomes whether or not White’s hit was legal. It was a hard hit, but the head contact comes in when Orpik hits the glass after taking the initial contact.
It’s also clear that White had committed to that hit when he was at center ice and made the long skate over to make contact. There may be a case for charging there, but that may be a tough sell. White received no penalty on the play and even with the apparent injury to Orpik, it’s hard to see supplemental discipline coming.
Orpik’s body position was far from ideal to take contact, as he was following through on a pass. There was no time to protect himself from the hit and the end result was that scary scene with Orpik looking like he didn't even know where he was.
It will be interesting to see if anything else comes of this, but there’s no question that the Caps will miss Orpik if he is out.
The veteran blueliner played over 21 minutes in each of the first two games and has been a valued defender for head coach Barry Trotz. The Caps are somewhat accustomed to playing without him, though. Orpik appeared in only 41 games this season. He suffered a lower-body injury in December that kept him out long term.
They’re probably better with him in the lineup than without, but they have some depth to try and fill the void if Orpik is out a while.
This has been an intense physical series between the two clubs. The Flyers already lost Sean Couturier to a big hit from Alex Ovechkin into the boards in Game 1. If this keeps up, both teams could have a few more players injured before the series is over.
