Devan Dubnyk knew something was wrong as soon as teammate Ryan Donato clipped his legs during Tuesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.
As he was flipping head over heels, Dubnyk remembers feeling a shooting pain in his side before ultimately landing on his back and hitting his head on the ice.
Ryan Donato and Brandon Manning go tumbling into Dubnyk. He hits his head hard on the ice. Alex Stalock is now taking over in net. pic.twitter.com/n628jacK8D
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) October 23, 2019
“The damage was actually done right when they clipped my feet, so I wasn’t really thinking about anything except like, ‘Ouch. What happened to my side?’ ” Dubnyk said. “Not really any time to brace myself. It was just weird because I’ve been clipped like that before and been able to jump over guys.”
After staggering to his feet, and trying to stay in the game, Dubnyk left through the tunnel and headed to the locker room.
“They actually made me do the concussion protocol and stuff, and I was pretty confused as to why because that was the last thing I was worried about,” Dubnyk said. “Then I understood after I watched the replay. It just looked a lot worse than it was.”
And while Dubnyk was a full participant in Friday’s practice, he admitted that he was pretty concerned while lying on his back in the crease. He struggled to straighten his body when he was on his hands and knees, and as soon as he stood up and tried to push off he realized something was wrong.
“It felt like I got hit with a bullet when it happened,” Dubnyk said. “It wasn’t good. You start thinking about something bad, or that it might be long term. It’s nice the way I’ve recovered, and I’m sure within a couple of days it’ll be completely gone and I’ll be back to normal.”
Donato said he might owe Dubnyk a nice dinner, adding that he was thrilled to see him back on the ice.
“I wish I could’ve gotten out of the way and I’m sure he wishes the same thing,” Donato said. “I was just trying to make a hard play, and he understands that. There’s no tension. I apologized because I felt bad and he was like, ‘There’s nothing to be sorry about.’ It was an accident and he knows that.”
Dubnyk is just glad it doesn’t appear to be something that’s going to linger.
“Just a freak thing,” Dubnyk said. “It sucks day-to-day when the kids are chasing me around the house. That said, it’s gotten significantly better over the last couple of days. I’m pretty happy with being back on the ice this quickly. Hopefully, it keeps going this way.
As for whether he’ll be ready for Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, that decision will likely go down to the wire.
“He’s feeling not bad,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We will discuss downstairs what the deal is as far as (the game). It’s always good to see our No. 1 goalie back on the ice.”
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