Boston Bruins defenseman Colin Miller delivered a devastating open-ice hit on Alex Burmistrov on Tuesday night, putting the Arizona Coyotes forward on a stretcher and receiving a game misconduct.

At 3:49 of the second period, rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun sent a short pass near the Coyotes’ defensive blue line to Burmistrov. It was an ill-advised pass, as it put Burmistrov square on the trolley-tracks for an oncoming Miller, who hit him hard as he released the puck.

Burmistrov’s head bounced off the ice, and he was on what Bruins announcer Jack Edwards called “Queer Street” after that:

Another look at the hit:

Coyotes medical personnel assisted him onto a stretcher, and he was wheeled of the ice after about three minutes, as Boston fans cheered.

From Dave Vest of the Coyotes:

.@ArizonaCoyotes center Alex Burmistrov gives two thumbs up to the fans cheering him as he exits TD Garden ice on a stretcher. GREAT sign! — Dave Vest (@davest4yotes) March 1, 2017





.@ArizonaCoyotes center Alex Burmistrov is being taken to a Boston hospital for further evaluation. Updates to come later. — Dave Vest (@davest4yotes) March 1, 2017





Hopefully Burmistrov is OK, as his head slammed off the ice quite hard.

But that’s the issue here: The ice caused the injury. The hit from Miller, who was given a major penalty and a game misconduct, was a solid, open-ice hockey play. Even if you want to argue it’s an illegal hit to the head, it was the pass that put Burmistrov in a prone position.

The aftermath caused the injury, and the injury caused the game misconduct. Hopefully the NHL Department of Player Safety doesn’t decide to punish Miller for the injury as well.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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