Coyotes vs. Blackhawks: Marian Hossa Stretchered off After Raffi Torres Hit

Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa was leveled by Coyotes forward Raffi Torres in the first period of the third game of their opening-round-playoff series. 

Unfortunately, Hossa's head caught the brunt of the blow, and he immediately collapsed to the ice. Medical staff quickly tended to Hossa and carried him off the ice on a stretcher. 

UPDATE: Wednesday, April 18 at 11:42 a.m. EST

Marian Hossa was taken to the hospital after being taken off the ice on a stretcher, but has since been released from the hospital, according to ESPN's Staff and ESPNChicago.com's Jesse Rogers. Rogers goes on to report that Hossa is being monitored closely by the team, according to Blackhawks' Dr. Michael Terry.

An eerie silence fell over the crowd as Hossa lay on the ice unconscious. The Chicago Tribune's Chris Kuc tweeted that Hossa left the arena in an ambulance. 

The massive hit came after a pass in the neutral zone, and Torres went full steam ahead towards an unsuspecting Hossa.

The Blackhawks' forward was just turning to chase the puck, and he did not have time to do anything other than absorb the hit. Hossa immediately fell to the ice.

Torres exploded into Hossa, and left the ice to do so, but no penalty was called. 

However, the action did not go without punishment. As you can imagine, this did not sit well with the Blackhawks, and it was just moments later that Blackhawks winger Brandon Bollig sought out some retribution. 

He jumped Torres the first chance he had, and the refs did not let him escape without penalty. He was given a two-minute roughing penalty and 10-minute misconduct penalty.