Blues' Holloway out of hospital, aims to play Thursday after 'scary situation'

St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway stayed at the hospital overnight after being taken out of the stadium on a stretcher on Tuesday, but the youngster said he "feels good today," and that he aims to play on Thursday.

"Obviously, it’s a scary situation," Holloway continued. "From what I’ve been told, the puck hit my Vagus nerve in my neck. As soon as I got hit, I knew something was a little off."

Holloway was hit in the neck area by a puck with 2:37 remaining in the first period of their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He proceeded to finish his shift, continuing to participate in the play before skating to the bench under his own power.

"I saw we had a two-on-one, so I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. As soon as I got to the bench, I felt a little woozy and didn’t remember much from there until I was on the stretcher.”

As play was stopped with 1:11 remaining for a high-sticking penalty that was later called off, teammates started calling and gesturing for assistance.

Blues trainer Ray Barile and medical staff from both teams tended to Holloway for several minutes before emergency medical technicians carted him off the bench on a stretcher.

Head coach Drew Bannister was reserved in his evaluation of whether Holloway could return to the ice on Thursday, but noted that it was a positive update to receive on Holloway.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead ourselves," said Bannister. "We’re less than 12 hours away from that injury. We’ll kind of take it day to day with him and see how he’s doing tomorrow. But today is a good day for us.”

“They told me no activity for 24 hours and then I’m good to go. I’m hoping to play tomorrow, but we’ll see," Holloway said on Wednesday.

Holloway, 23, is in his first season with the Blues, and has four goals and six points in 13 games so far. Originally selected with the 14th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, Holloway spent the first four years of his career there. He has 13 goals and 24 points in 102 career NHL games with Edmonton and St. Louis.

The Blues improved to 7-6 with a 3-2 victory over the Lightning on Tuesday, and play their next game against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday.