Roope Hintz was caught under a brutal knee tackle – star defender given a suspension

In the Dallas Stars’ season opener, a frightening situation occurred when the team’s star center Roope Hintz became the target of a knee-on-knee hit by St. Louis Blues defenseman Brandon Carlo .

Hintz lay on the ice and needed assistance to leave the rink. Carlo received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for the incident.

The incident happened at the start of the third period with the Blues leading the game 2–0. Hintz was reaching for a pass that bounced over his stick near the opponent’s blue line when Carlo came in to check him. The players’ knees collided, and the Finnish forward fell to the ice.

Fortunately, it seems that a more serious injury was avoided, as Hintz returned to the ice before Carlo’s five-minute penalty expired.

However, his return was brief. Hintz played one shift lasting 50 seconds and was not seen on the ice for the last 14 minutes of the game. No further information about the forward’s condition has been released at this stage.

For Carlo, the game was his first in a Blues jersey. St. Louis acquired the defenseman from the Toronto Maple Leafs over the summer.

For Dallas, the season opener was also disappointing in terms of results, as the Blues secured a clear 4–0 victory on the road.

Among the NHL’s “Finnish teams,” the Carolina Hurricanes also suffered a loss during the night’s round, as the Washington Capitals took the points from Raleigh with a 5–2 victory. Sebastian Aho scored the home team’s first goal on the power play. Meanwhile, the star forward Alex Tuch, acquired from Buffalo over the summer, scored two goals right away, both in the first period.

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NHL | 26.10.2026 19:25