Zednik's Neck Sliced by Skate in Sabres Win

Buffalo's 5-3 win was overshadowed by what Stephen Weiss called "the worst thing I've ever seen in hockey"—a freak accident in which a falling Olli Jokinen slashed fellow Panther Richard Zednik's neck with his skate. Zednik left a trail of blood on his way to the bench and was rushed to the hospital for surgery, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

After a zamboni cleaned the stained ice, the shaken players resumed the game. "I can honestly say my mind wasn't on the game the last nine minutes," said a distraught Jokinen. "The game didn't seem important," Steve Montador agreed. "Nothing really mattered other than finally finding out he's at least in stable condition." Zednik is resting comfortably, team officials say. (More NHL stories.)