Huge hit knocks Samuel Girard out of Game 3.

This may very well be one of the biggest hits we will see in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.

On Saturday night the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche faced off in the pivotal Game 3 of their second round playoff series and early on it was the Blues who controlled the game with their physical play. In fact, despite the fact that the Blues would take an early lead in the first period, the most impactful play of the early game may have been this monstrous hit courtesy of St. Louis Blues forward Ivan Barbashev. 

Girard was attempting to play the puck behind the Avalanche net when the much bigger Barbashev saw an opportunity to punish him with the body, and boy did he ever do just that. Barbashev would absolutely crush the much smaller Girard along the boards and although the contact from the Blues forward was shoulder to shoulder, the impact of the blow would send Girard's head into the glass and the boards with a severe and violent impact.

It was clear from the very moment he took the hit that Girard was not ok and it took several long moments for him to start moving again, resulting in the play being blown dead. Even after the play had been whistled down though it was still obvious that Girard was seriously disoriented and the blood that was caking his face as a result of the hit only added to the effect of the bewildered Avalanche defender.

Thankfully both Giard's teammates and members of the Avalanche training staff would come out to help the injured defender, but unfortunately I strongly suspect that we have seen the last of Girard for tonight and perhaps for several more games in the playoffs as well as a result of this hit.

For those hoping to see a suspension come down from the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety, I simply don't see how you could justify penalizing Barbashev for the hit that he delivered here in spite of what is a very unfortunate injury to Girard.