When John Tavares was pulled off the ice by the NHL's concussion spotters in overtime Game 4 against the Ottawa Senators, he had no idea that the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to the power play.
The 34-year-old was removed from the game in overtime after Artem Zub hit Tavares in the head in front of Ottawa's net. Tavares was out for the entire power play, returning to Toronto's bench just under 11 minutes into overtime.
"I don’t think I really need to explain it. I think pretty obvious what happened on the play. Puck’s nowhere near me," Tavares said of his hit Monday.
The forward had the Maple Leafs' first goal in Game 4 in Ottawa, deflecting William Nylander's pass into the net for his third goal of the series. Tavares has five points in the series, the fourth-most on the team behind Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner.
"I feel good," Tavares said. "A little bit of soreness in my jaw and cheek area, but felt good on the ice today."
alright, standard set pic.twitter.com/xRKrSqtnHA
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There was no penalty or supplemental discipline from the NHL on the play, which head coach Craig Berube seemed displeased with. "I don’t like the hit. Puck’s nowhere near him. Looked like a headshot to me," he said Monday.
"You're interested to see why nothing gets called on that, but that's sometimes how the play goes," added Mitch Marner. "Lucky enough, Johnny's fine and good to go. That's all that matters."
Toronto had several chances, but didn't score on their four-minute power play in overtime. Tavares got three shifts after returning to Toronto's bench and was on the ice for Ottawa's overtime-winner.
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When Chris Tanev was with the Calgary Flames last season, the NHL's concussion spotter pulled him during a game. He looks back on that moment, remembering he wasn't happy to be taken off the ice.
What would it be like for Tanev if he were in Tavares' position on Saturday?
"Yeah, I'm probably not happy. I mean, yeah, they're doing their job," the defenseman said. "It's obviously a good thing that the league's done now for a long time to try to prevent head injuries, keep concussions to a minimum. I mean, you can't comment on that too much, but I'm sure he wasn't very thrilled."
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Tavares detailed the protocol process, which took 10 minutes of game time and around 15 real-time minutes to complete. He added on Monday that he's gone through the process before.
"Just a series of tests and evaluation of where you’re at, and making sure that you’re OK," he said. "Obviously, it’s there for safety reasons, so you just go through it and determine how you’re feeling, along with medical and the checkpoints that have to be hit for you to return."
It appears all systems are a go for him to play in Game 5 at home in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs have another chance to close the series. He skated in his usual spot on the second line, between Pontus Holmberg and Nylander at practice on Monday.
If the Maple Leafs win on Tuesday, it'll be the first time they've closed out a series at home since the 2004 Battle of Ontario.
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