Lindros Hit Forces Dackell Out

Ottawa right wing Andreas Dackell will be sidelined 10-14 days after sustaining a concussion and needing 30 stitches to close cuts from a collision with Philadelphia's Eric Lindros.

The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Lindros crushed Dackell, a 5-foot-11, 191-pound Swede, into the corner boards to the right of Ottawa goaltender Damian Rhodes late in the first period of Thursday's 3-1 Ottawa win.

"At least I don't need a mask for Halloween now," Dackell said Friday.

Dackell fell to the ice immediately after the hit and was down for about 12 minutes while receiving medical attention. Dackell, blood smeared on his face, was taken off the ice on a stretcher to the Senators' dressing room.

Referee Richard Trottier did not penalize Lindros.

"From my position, he just skated towards him," the referee said. "It was a legal check. There was no elbow, no stick. (Dackell) bent down and kept going down. It wasn't boarding and it wasn't a check from behind."

Still replays seemed to show Lindros left his feet as he initiated the check. NHL spokesman Frank Brown said Friday the league intended to issue a statement, then said it was still awaiting a videotape.

"I felt horrible after seeing somebody lying on the ice like that," Lindros said. "No one wants to see anyone hurt. Nobody has the intent to hurt anybody else. I just went in and finished my check."

Eric Lindros was not penalized for this hit on Andreas Dackell. (AP)

Senators general manager Rick Dudley said Lindros should have been given a minor penalty.

"He clearly left his feet and his elbow hit him in the head," Dudley said.

"It was a clean hit," responded Flyers GM Bob Clarke. "The guy ducked."

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