Olen Zellweger enters concussion protocol after Blue Jackets defenseman hit sparks suspension debate

The hit came late in the second period at KeyBank Center, with Buffalo already cruising toward what would become a 5-1 win over Columbus.

Zellweger was working to control the puck near the net when Soucy caught him with a heavy check that sent him down to the ice.

He stayed there for several moments before teammates helped him off, and he never returned for the third period.

Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed after the game that Zellweger is now in concussion protocol, with the belief being that his head made contact with the ice on the play rather than directly from Soucy's check.

Ruff had little else to offer in the immediate aftermath, saying the team simply needs more time and information.

Zellweger, who signed a three year, $9.3 million deal with Buffalo in July after arriving from Anaheim, will be further evaluated Wednesday, as will fellow defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who exited the same game with a separate injury.

Despite the scary optics, Ruff himself called the hit clean when asked about it postgame, which tempers expectations for any real supplementary discipline.

No penalty appears to have been assessed on the play itself, and nothing has been announced by the league's Department of Player Safety as of Wednesday morning. Buffalo's locker room still answered physically, with Beck Malenstyn dropping the gloves with Soucy early in the third period as tempers flared.

For now, the bigger concern in Buffalo is simply Zellweger's health heading into the regular season, not the possibility of a ban for Soucy.

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