Quebec hockey player Anthony Mantha really feared for his health during his last game and even if he managed to somewhat put this setback last week behind him, he does not intend to forget it.
The Washington Capitals point guard has missed his team’s last three games, and on Wednesday he revealed the exact reasons why his name was placed on the disabled list. While everyone knew the striker had been hit in the head by a deflected shot from teammate Evgeniy Kuznetsov on November 8, few had a clear idea of the extent of the injury.
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In fact, Mantha suffered a punctured eardrum in his left ear. According to him, he was deprived of hearing for six days, but luckily for him, he started hearing again on that side. Then, as “The Hockey News” reported, he struggled with dizziness and vomiting for 36 hours after the hit. Also, the problems will not prevent him from playing, and a return to the competition on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets is not ruled out.
“When it happened, I felt dizzy and lost my balance on the ice. I knew she was bleeding, but I had a hunch that I shouldn’t get up right away, because it could have been worse if I risked falling again. So I waited for help,” described the one who needed 4-5 stitches to the media, reports Tom Gulitti from the Capitals official website.
In Washington, many immediately had a name in mind: John Carlson. Hit hard in the head by Brenden Dillon’s cross on December 23, 2022, the defender underwent surgery to reattach his ear after suffering, among other things, a fractured skull.
“That’s the first thing that comes to mind, you know?” he admitted. As soon as you get hurt, you hate everything at that moment, but that’s just bad luck. Kuzy apologized several times, and I told him, “Look, you shot to score a goal. It looks like he hit some guy’s skate. It’s not like you shot at me for fun,” he explained.
Keep up the good habits
To make matters worse, the former Detroit Red Wings scored two goals before going down in the fight. With four points in 10 games this season, he wants to pick up where he left off, especially since the Capitals are on a three-game winning streak.
“Individually, I played well and our line did well,” he said, referring to his third line partners Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas. I think we played three good games and we should continue. Things started to go well, we played properly and didn’t stay too much in our own territory, which is a bonus when there is a lot of play with the puck in the offensive zone. We must look forward. Luckily, he was only a week away.”
