Khaira released from hospital after leaving Blackhawks game on stretcher

CHICAGO-- Jujhar Khaira was released from the hospital Wednesday, one day after the Chicago Blackhawks forward was taken off the ice on a stretcher following a hit by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba at United Center.

"Despite the significant injury, his prognosis is excellent, and we expect a full recovery," Blackhawks physician Dr. Michael Terry said. "At this point, it is too early to put a timeline on return to play."
Khaira is in the NHL concussion protocol and was placed on injured reserve.
He received a pass from Seth Jones in the defensive zone and was looking down for the puck when Trouba stepped up from the blue line and checked him in the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.
Khaira fell backward onto the ice. The medical staff called for a stretcher after checking on Khaira, who was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"He's up, he's talking, he's very responsive and I think he wants to get back on the ice," Blackhawks coach Derek King said after the 6-2 loss. "He's done some tests already as far as what the doctor] told me, but he has some more tests to be done. So we won't know the extent of the injury until after these tests. ... But he's talking, he's coherent, I guess. It's a scary situation to see."
The game was delayed with 13:50 remaining in the period. The Rangers scored the final four goals of the game in the third period.
"Obviously very scary and unfortunate," Trouba said Wednesday after the Rangers' 7-3 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche. "I exchanged text messages with him after and checked in. He tells me he's doing okay so that's good to see.
"Obviously, no one wants to see that and no one plays the game to see guys get injured or injure guys. It was very unfortunate. It's a tough situation for everyone and I hope he recovers fast."
Khaira, who signed as a free agent with the Blackhawks on July 28, scored two goals in 17 games prior to Tuesday.
"Personally, I was pretty shaken. I'm not going to lie to you," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "I'm just glad to hear he's doing OK. It [stinks] that happens sometimes."
The Blackhawks recalled forwards
[Mike Hardman
and
Philipp Kurashev
from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and assigned defensemen Wyatt Kalynuk and Ian Mitchell to Rockford.
Chicago plays at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, NBCSCH, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report