Katchouk takes a huge hit and goes head first into the post.

There was a scary moment during the Friday night matchup between the Seattle Kraken and Tampa Bay Lightning.

During the opening minutes of the 2nd period, Lightning forward Boris Katchouk was leveled during a scoring chance by Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. It was a hit that turned out to be incredibly dangerous of Katchouk, not because it was particularly dirty but rather due to how the impact sent Katchouk crashing to the ice.

Katchouk had quite a bit of momentum as he closed in on the Kraken net and was clearly rushing in an attempt to create a scoring chance before Oleksiak became a factor, but the Kraken blue liner got to him first and punished him with the body. The combination of the hit and Katchouk's own forward momentum sent him falling at an awkward angle, and as a result the side of his head collided with the goalpost as the rest of his body slid into the Kraken net.

Katchouk appeared to be in bad shape on the ice and when he finally began to move it seemed like he was in quite a bit of discomfort as well. We're happy to report that in spite of the violent collision in front of the net and the subsequent impact with the goalpost, Katchouk was able to skate off the ice under his own power. The rookie did not look like he was feeling too hot while he was doing it, but once again he made it back to the bench and down the tunnel to the locker room without the assistance of the trainer.

Here is a replay of the impact, both in real time and in slow motion.

I am happy to inform you that Katchouk is going to be alright in spite of the fact that it looked like he took a pretty good shot to the head. Katchouk was likely put through the National Hockey League's concussion protocol following a collision of this nature, but in spite of that he was able to return to the bench before the conclusion of the game.