Flyers center Roenick breaks jaw when struck by puck

NEW YORK -- Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick broke his jaw Thursday night when he was struck in the face by a puck against the New York Rangers.

Roenick was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital for X-rays, and the Flyers said on their media hotline he suffered a broken and lacerated jaw.

"Jeremy got hit point blank with a puck on the left jaw, sustained a very bad fracture of the left jaw ... he was out pretty much for three or four minutes," said Dr. Andrew Feldman, the Rangers' physician. "The jaw is a problem and I'm sure he's going to need surgery on that."

Roenick thought he was unconscious for about a minute.

"When I came to I was spitting up blood. I just made sure I didn't choke on my blood," Roenick said.

The shot by Rangers defenseman Boris Mironov caught Roenick in the face and he collapsed in a pool of blood to the left of Flyers goalie Sean Burke with 15:51 remaining in the third period.

"I was on the ice and it was a bang-bang play," said Tony Amonte. "I don't think he had a chance to see it before it hit him."

Roenick was motionless for several minutes before getting up and slowly leaving the ice while clutching a towel to his face. He waved to the fans, who gave him an ovation as he left.

"It's not often you get cheered at Madison Square Garden," Roenick said through team spokesman Zack Hill. "They showed a lot of class and I wanted to respond."

Roenick was later helped onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

"He had the presence of mind to wave to the crowd," Amonte said. "He had his bearings, but it definitely didn't look pretty out there.

"This is a huge loss. We're going to cross our fingers and hope for the best."

Roenick, who assisted on Simon Gagne's goal, is the Flyers' No. 2 scorer with 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists.

"I've never seen anyone take that kind of hit and be that cognizant and that funny about it," Feldman said.

The Flyers lost another center less than a minute later. Keith Primeau was helped from the ice after a collision with the Rangers' Bobby Holik.

"He got his bell rung," said Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock. "He's feeling a little better now. We'll give you a better update (Friday) at practice."