Markov spills blood in loss<br>Hit in forehead by
puck<br><br>Bob McManaman<br>The Arizona Republic<br>Nov. 28,
2001<br><br>COLUMBUS, Ohio - Coyotes defenseman Danny Markov escaped a
potentially serious injury Tuesday night, although you
wouldn't have known it by looking at all the
blood.<br><br><br>Midway through the second period of the Coyotes' 3-0
loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Markov was circling
behind the Phoenix net when a slap shot from Tyler
Wright hit him in the middle of the forehead, opening a
huge gash that bloodied the ice surface at Nationwide
Arena.<br><br>Markov appeared to have lost consciousness briefly, but
he was said to be alert as team trainers attended to
him near Coyotes goalie Sean Burke, who knew
immediately that something was very wrong and quickly
signaled for medical help.<br><br>"I've never seen that
much blood in my life," Burke said. "I didn't see him
get hit because the puck went over my shoulder, but
when I heard him yell and saw him go down with all
that blood, I knew it was pretty bad."<br><br>Despite
requiring 25 stitches, Markov returned to the game with
nine minutes left to play and took two more shifts
before the game was over.<br><br>"If we had 24 guys like
that, we'd win 90 percent of our game," right wing
Claude Lemieux said. "He's one of the toughest guys I've
ever played with. <br><br>"To come back like that in
the third period when we're already down 3-0, most
guys would have packed it in and called it a
night."<br><br>The shot narrowly missed Markov's eyes. He was with
the Toronto Maple Leafs two years ago when teammate
Bryan Berard lost most of his sight in one eye after
getting hit in the face with a stick on a follow-through
shot by Ottawa's Marian Hossa.<br><br>Berard, now
playing for the New York Rangers, wasn't wearing a face
shield. Markov, a 25-year-old from Moscow, doesn't wear
eye protection, either. But he might consider it
after Tuesday night.<br><br>"It's his choice, but I'd
like to see him wear a visor," said Lemieux, who wears
one himself. "He's not the kind of guy who's going to
get into a lot of fights, but after tonight I hope he
considers wearing one."<br><br>It took arena personnel
nearly five minutes to clean up all the blood on the ice
after the accident. <br><br>Moments before Markov's
injury, a toddler sitting in the stands with her parents
also was hit in the forehead by a puck that sailed
over the glass.<br><br>The girl was taken to a nearby
hospital, but her condition was not known.