St. Louis captain David Backes was dazed by a hit to the head that knocked him out of game two of the Blues’ NHL playoff series against Chicago on Saturday.
Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook delivered the hit in the third period of the Western Conference first-round contest, skating at near full speed and checking Backes in the face with his right shoulder.
Backes hit the corner boards head-first, sparking a scrum between the teams as he tried, with little success, to rise. At the time, the Blackhawks had the lead, but Seabrook’s ejection with 4:15 left in regulation proved costly.
The Blackhawks killed off an initial 46-second 5-on-3 penalty situation before Vladimir Tarasenko beat Corey Crawford with a long shot to knot the score with 6.4 seconds remaining. Barret Jackman scored 5:50 into overtime to give St. Louis the 4-3 victory and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock offered little information about Backes’ condition after the game. ”How do you think he is? Not great,” Hitchcock said. “We’ll let the league deal with it.”
Seabrook, who could find himself facing further punishment from the NHL, said he wasn’t head-hunting. ”I feel bad seeing a guy like that on the ice,” he said.
“I’ve been there myself, and I’m not trying to target his head … It doesn’t feel good to see a player lying there like that, and knowing that I hit him.”
