Islanders' Mike Reilly Left Laying Motionless After Routine Hit Becomes a Scary Scene

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Liam McCormick
November 1, 2024 (7:13 PM)

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Moments ago in tonight's game between the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, what seemed to be a routine hit quickly became a scary situation.

Islanders defender Mike Reilly was skating with the puck up the boards, and ran into Sabres forward Jordan Greenway who laid a big hit, but nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, Reilly fell to the ice nearly backwards and landed on his head. Reilly then played motionless on the ice for several moments, and the trainers brought out stretchers.

Jordan Greenway was actually the first player to notice that Reilly wasn't okay after the hit. The referees blew the play down fairly quickly after seeing Reilly's reaction as well. Greenway seemed to be genuinely concerned about Reilly, and even though there was a small scrum after the play, the primary focus of the players was still on Reilly. Everyone on the ice was only hoping the best for Reilly in that situation.

Thankfully, before he was out onto the stretcher, Reilly was able to get up on his feet with the assistance of teammates to be taken to the locker room. Reilly's feet seemed weak gliding back, but the broadcast saw that Reilly was also talking which is an incredibly positive sign.

Any time a player suffers an injury that stops all movement like this, it's truly a scary scene in a sport as dangerous as hockey. Especially on what looked to be a routine hit that just ended poorly, it's just horribly unfortunate for Reilly. Hockey fans everywhere will be hoping the best for him in his recovery after tonight's incident. The Islanders will likely provide a preliminary update on Reilly tonight, but a further timeline may not be known for some time.