[E.J.]

Originally Posted by E.J.

An Oh Chit tonight... Ryan O'Reilly went into the boards just now, looks REALLY BAD to me right now... Just took him off and I didn't see him move an arm, let alone a foot after hitting, save for one arm just working it's way to the ice....

Long story short, this looks pretty rough and positive thoughts towards the O'Reilly family are in order at this point...

Just lost an edge and went into the boards at the blue line...nothing crazy.... I'll hope my worries are unfounded....

Looks like he has'had movement in his arms and legs, that is good news...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...4f093ad380.2e1

Av's O'Reilly stretchered off in win over Wild
(AFP) – 11 hours ago

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Colorado center Ryan O'Reilly was stretchered off the ice after crashing head first into the boards in the Avalanche's 4-1 NHL victory over Minnesota.

An Avalanche official said O'Reilly had movement in his arms and legs but was taken to a local hospital Friday for further evaluation.

Colorado led 2-0 when O'Reilly fell while chasing the puck alongside Minnesota's Matt Cullen early in the second period.

Play was halted for about 10 minutes as trainers attended to the motionless player.

Avalanche coach Joe Sacco gathered his players near the bench in an effort to help them regain their concentration before play resumed.

"What I tried to right after that happened and he went off was just tell the guys that he was going to be fine and make sure that we stayed strong within the game," Sacco said.

"Sometimes you tend to drift a little bit when you see a teammate go off like that. It's just human nature."

Tomas Fleishmann extended the Avs' lead to 3-0 in the second period with a shot that went between the legs of rookie goaltender Anton Khudobin.

Kevin Porter, Milan Hejduk, Fleischmann and Ryan Wilson scored for Colorado, while Andrew Brunette scored for Minnesota.

Goalie Craig Anderson said the Avalanche were more motivated after O'Reilly was injured.

"He was moving and it sounds like he's OK," Anderson said. "You've got to find a way to pick him up. It was our job and our duty to win the game for him."