Concussion-like symptoms of nausea and dizziness kept first-line center Jason Arnott out of the New Jersey lineup in Monday’s fifth game of the Stanley Cup finals.
Arnott was struck in the head by a clearing pass by Colorado’s Adam Foote in the opening period of Game 4 Saturday in New Jersey. He played five more shifts in the first period. Then he collapsed while standing in front of the bench, and was taken to the hospital for X-rays.
The X-rays were negative, Arnott made the trip to Colorado, and coach Larry Robinson was hoping he would be able to play. But when the nausea and dizziness didn’t go away, trainer Bill Murray and Arnott agreed at the morning skate that he shouldn’t play.
“No game is that important that you risk your health,” said Robinson. “We certainly don’t want a player out there who’s not 100 percent. In the playoffs you can’t afford to put your team in jeopardy by starting someone and him not being able to finish it when you’ve got healthy bodies around.”
Left wing Jim McKenzie, who’d appeared in only two of the Devils’ previous 22 playoff games, replaced Arnott on the game-night roster. McKenzie was used on the fourth line and Bobby Holik and Sergei Nemchinov combined to take Arnott’s place at center on the first line.
Hejduk okay: Right wing Milan Hejduk, the other player injured in Game 4, was back on Colorado’s first line with Joe Sakic and Alex Tanguay. Hejduk has 10 stitches in the chin area and cuts over his eyes to show for a body-check he took from Holik late in the contest.
The damage was done when Hejduk fell to the ice and his helmet rammed into his head. “I wasn’t ready for the hit at all,” said Hejduk. “I shot the puck and he came at me from the blind side.”
After looking at the films, Avalanche coach Bob Hartley and Hejduk agreed Holik’s hit wasn’t a cheap shot. “It was a very clean hit,” said Hartley. “Milan had no chance to defend himself but Holik caught him with a shoulder, and that’s hockey.”
3-2 massacre: Saturday’s game, which the Devils rallied to win 3-2, was the most lopsided of the first four. New Jersey’s dominance was much more pronounced than Colorado’s in its 5-0 rout of the Devils in the Game 1.
“We sat on the lead,” lamented Avalanche left wing Chris Dingman. “We can’t do that. They were coming hard; we weren’t holding them up. If it wasn’t for Patrick [Roy] in goal it probably would have been 5-1 or 6-1.”
Despite having to kill five penalties and going on the power play just twice, New Jersey outshot the Avalanche 35-12 Saturday. Only six Colorado players were credited with shots-on-goal. Sakic had four; Chris Drury, three; Ray Bourque, two; and Rob Blake, Dave Reid and Martin Skoula one apiece.
