Penguins player sustains injury in a freak accident before making ice debut

The Pittsburgh Penguins player sustained a startling injury during Sunday night's preseason game, but it didn't take one shift to heal. The strangest aspect of this was the sudden absence of Penguins forward Blake Lizotte, who had warmed up and started the game on the bench.

The absence of Lizotte's first-period shifts increased fans' confusion and anxiety. He disappeared from the bench by the second, which begged even more questions. The mystery surrounding what happened to him didn't fully come to an end until he was unable to return for the remainder of the game.

The Penguins later released an official update stating that Lizotte would not be making a comeback due to an upper-body injury. Naturally, that served only to increase conjecture. Should he not have played a shift, how could he have been hurt? This was an unusual situation made even more so by the lack of any visible incident on the ice.

Fans didn't get any clarity until Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan addressed the matter, and the news wasn't good. Sullivan revealed that during the game's first shift, Lizotte had been hit in the face by a stray puck. Lizotte was hurt when the puck went over the boards while he was on the bench, even though he hadn't yet entered the game. It's unclear exactly how serious it was, but it was serious enough to remove him from the game.

The unusual situation might have arisen because the game was played at the Sudbury Community Arena, a different venue than the players were accustomed to. Lizotte may have been taken off guard by the bench structure, as players are not accustomed to it, which could have contributed to his bizarre accident. Regarding Blake Lizotte, there's been no word on his status as of yet, but we hope he recovers quickly and makes a start as soon as possible.