Sources: Blues’ Dylan Holloway ‘will be OK,’ airway is clear after taking puck to throat area

St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway was transported to a local hospital via ambulance on Tuesday for testing and observation after a deflected puck hit him in the throat area, requiring immediate medical treatment which also temporarily halted the Blues’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sources told Daily Faceoff that doctors indicated Holloway “will be OK,” was alert and stable, and that his airway was clear and unobstructed. He was breathing without trouble.

Holloway’s parents, who were in town in St. Louis attending the game, joined him at the hospital. Sources said Holloway was scheduled for a precautionary scan at the hospital to examine the area, where there was no immediate swelling in the neck.

That was a welcomed sigh of relief for Holloway, the Blues and Blues fans, after stunned silence enveloped Enterprise Center while Holloway was attended to on the bench and transported off on a stretcher.

With less than two minutes to play in the first period, a shot from Tampa Bay forward Nick Paul rode up the stick of Blues teammate Jordan Kyrou and struck Holloway just above his right shoulder pad in an unprotected area near his neck. Holloway completed his shift for 20 to 30 seconds after the impact, cleared the puck out of the zone and then made his way to the bench, where he was in distress.

Sources inside Enterprise Center said teammate Alexey Toropchenko hurriedly alerted the Blues’ training staff that Holloway required immediate attention. Head athletic trainer Ray Barile and his team jumped into action. Despite the scary scene, Holloway was in great hands with Barile and the Blues, who are well-trained and have a ton of emergency medical experience in Barile’s 30 years behind an NHL bench. Barile was on the ice when Blues defenseman Chris Pronger’s heart stopped after taking a slap shot to the chest in 1998 and when Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester went into cardiac arrest on Feb. 11, 2020.

There have been other too-close-for-comfort calls in recent NHL history. Watching Holloway’s discomfort on Tuesday likely brought some longtime hockey fans flashbacks to Jan. 29, 2000, when Montréal Canadiens winger Trent McCleary was critically injured after a shot from Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Therien hit him in the throat. The shot cracked McCleary’s larynx and McCleary collapsed as he arrived at the Canadiens’ bench unable to breathe. Montréal’s well-regarded medical staff worked quickly to partially open his airway, allowing oxygen to reach his lungs, while he was rushed to the hospital for an emergency tracheotomy. McCleary attempted a comeback but was unable to continue his NHL career as a result of his reduced airway.

Fortunately for Holloway, he was able to escape relatively unscathed on Tuesday. Holloway, 23, joined the Blues in August after signing a two-year offer sheet worth $4.5 million. The Calgary native collected four goals and two assists for six points in his first 12 games with the Blue Note.

The Blues-Lightning game resumed after an ice cut and the two teams played the remaining 71 seconds of the first period, paused for a brief stoppage, and then continued on with the second period.