RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff was struck in the face by a puck Thursday night and wasn’t behind the bench for the third period of his team’s 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Just wasn’t feeling right, but seems a little better right now than he was after the second, so that was great to see,” Devils associate coach Travis Green said after the game.
Ruff, who turns 64 next month, was hit with about 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the second period, but was tended to and remained behind the bench after a brief break. He didn’t come out to the ice for the third.
“You never like to see what happened out there,” Green said. “Obviously, it happens once in a while.”
Green ran the team for the rest of the game.
With 858 career regular-season wins, Ruff ranks fourth all-time among NHL coaches. He has coached the fourth-most games during the regular season in Devils history (266).
New Jersey trailed 3-0 after two periods, but Justin Dowling and Jesper Bratt scored in the third. The latter goal came with 2.3 seconds remaining, with the Devils using an extra attacker.
It was the first meeting between the teams since Carolina won their second-round playoff series in five games last spring.
Devils goalie Nico Daws was pulled after Carolina’s third goal early in the second period. He stopped nine of 12 shots before Vitek Vanecek made 11 saves in relief.
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