Puck to the Face Hit [VIDEO]: Marc Staal Painful Eye Injury Leaves 'Pool of Blood' on Ice During NHL Rangers vs. Flyers Game

Hockey can be a dangerous sport - and the gnarly "puck to the face" hit defenseman Marc Staal took during Tuesday evening's New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers game can surly attest to that. During the beginning of the third period of the game, Rangers star Jacob Voracek deflected a slap shot by Flyers defender Kimmo Timonen - and the fast-flying puck slammed right into Staal's right eye. The 26-year-old alternate captain fell to the ice in a heap of agony and pain - he managed to pick himself up and exit the rink, but not before leaving a "pool of blood" behind him. Updated reports confirm that Staal was not transported to the hospital, but the condition of his injured eye still remains unknown.

As ESPN initially reported, Staal was "hit in the right eye by a tipped puck at the 5:45 mark of the third period... [The player] spent several minutes face-down and bleeding before he skated off on his own to the trainer's room."

Watch the frightening hit here:

Following the hard hit, fellow Rangers teammate and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said his focus was off for the rest of the game - watching Staal suffer was a hard thing to handle: “That was scary … He was in a lot of pain. It was tough to focus after that.”

Fellow Ranger Dan Girardi also partially witnessed the vicious below, and didn't know any details about his teammate’s current condition directly after the injury occurred:

“I heard the shot and I heard him. It’s a scary play to see … A guy that’s in a lot of pain and that’s a big part of our team. I think he’s OK [but] I haven’t heard much. I’m going to check on him and hopefully he’s OK.”

Rangers forward and captain Ryan Callahan also added, “When it’s that close to his eye, there’s no way to really prevent that. It’s off a stick and into his face … You could feel that really take the life out of the bench a little bit, out of the whole crowd. It was a scary moment. I haven’t seen him yet, but hopefully he’s OK.”

Staal (who was not wearing a visor on his helmet) did not return to the game. The Rangers ended up winning 4-2.