Jack Eichel awkwardly collided with Matthew Tkachuk…

Jack Eichel awkwardly collided with Matthew Tkachuk and the resulting hit was so brutal

This was just a case of some severe bad luck for Jack Eichel.

In a game that already featured a vicious hit on Radko Gudas early on, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers was an incredibly punishing one. In the final moments of the second period, Eichel was rocked on a hit by Matthew Tkachuk, but the play wasn’t a dirty one at all.

In fact, the hit only looked so brutal because Eichel tripped into it after toe picking into the ice. The result was a really unfortunate collision between the two that looked absolutely nasty after Eichel was crunched into Tkachuk at an awful angle.

Jack Eichel just took a HUGE HIT from Matthew Tkachuk

pic.twitter.com/9l3xbuWuKT

— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) June 6, 2023

TKACHUK WITH A MAJOR HIT ON EICHEL 👀 pic.twitter.com/RF6vSF8WNG

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 6, 2023

Tkachuk was given a two-minute roughing penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct in the scrum after the fact, but despite his reputation here, this hit is as clean as they come. It’s a hard one, but it turned so unfortunate only because Eichel lost his footing and fell awkwardly into it.

Thankfully, Eichel returned for the third period and even managed to help the Golden Knights score a goal in the final frame! Here’s how NHL fans reacted to Eichel’s unfortunate collision into Tkachuk.

That’s a whole lot of unfortunate https://t.co/rLrW4fkNAK

— tony/onitenshu.eth (@onitenshu) June 6, 2023

Yuck the way his body contorted he got the worst of it https://t.co/X5tGnd7gTI

— Brady (@blynch999) June 6, 2023

Hope Eichel is okay after that hit. #VegasGoldenKnights #StanleyCupFinal https://t.co/UMRhGl9piF

— MetalJohn (@metaljohnradio) June 6, 2023

Clean, thunderous hit with a tough result. Hope Eichel isn’t seriously hurt. https://t.co/GM2Xb6bGNn

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 6, 2023

I think the hit was legal, just really bad timing for Eichel who was going down after that toe pick. Really unfortunate result for Eichel, who hopefully will be able to return (next game, at this point, no need to risk anything).

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 6, 2023

End of the second, 4-0 Vegas.

Here’s hoping Jack Eichel will be ok. Took a huge hit from Matthew Tkachuk.

— Ryan The Hockey Guy (@RyanHockeyGuy) June 6, 2023