Jets reveal full extent of Haydn Fleury’s injuries after brutal crash into boards

After taking a scary-looking tumble into the end boards, Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury appears to have escaped the incident without any serious injuries.

Fleury had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher during the first period of Tuesday night’s game against Vegas after being sent hard into the boards by Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar.

The incident occurred when, as Fleury was chasing down a puck in his own end, Kolesar hit him in the backs of his knees with his stick while the defenceman turned around.

Fleury fell to his backside at the red line and crashed into the boards at full force, back-first.

He threw his stick and lay on the ice until being attended to by trainers.

The team issued a statement during the game that Fleury had been taken to hospital in an ambulance but noted that he “was fully alert and moving his extremities upon departure.”

What were Fleury’s injuries?

According to Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel, Fleury suffered a broken nose and bruised back in the incident. He also will continue to be evaluated for concussion symptoms and there is no timetable for his return to action.

“I don’t think he wanted to hang around. He’s got the broken nose, he’s got a bruised back. I’m not sure what that exactly means, but it’s not obviously at first what we thought, it’s not serious,” Arniel said, per NHL.com.

“We were seeing him going off on a stretcher. So he’s banged up pretty good. He felt it. But great seeing him here today and seeing him around the room.”

On Wednesday, the Jets placed Fleury on the injured reserve and recalled forward Danny Zhilkin from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

What happened after the incident?

When play resumed, Kolesar and Jets forward Adam Lowry dropped the gloves, with the Winnipeg captain getting a little revenge for his teammate.

The Jets would go on to lose the game in dying moments of overtime when Tomas Hertl scored a power-play goal with just 13 seconds remaining.

After winning the Presidents’ Trophy last year as the NHL’s best team in the regular season, Winnipeg has struggled mightily. With a record of 15-21-5 for 35 points through 41 games, the Jets sit dead last in the league.

Fleury, 29, is in his second season with the Jets, having played 17 games this campaign. He was the seventh-overall pick in the 2014 draft by the Carolina Hurricanes and also has played for the Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken and Tampa Bay Lightning.