Serious injury concern sparks after bloody fight involving Roope Hintz and Nathan MacKinnon

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz is now a hand watch after a wild second period Tuesday night in Dallas.

Hintz and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon dropped the gloves in a 3-2 Avalanche win, and Hintz landed several clean punches, leaving MacKinnon bloodied and headed to the locker room.

MacKinnon was back before the period ended.

Hintz finished the game too, and he had scored a goal earlier in the night.

But he was spotted icing his hand in the penalty box, and he was unavailable to speak with reporters afterward because he was with the team doctor ahead of the flight to Denver.

Nobody has confirmed a diagnosis, and Dallas has not shared a timeline.

That's worth saying clearly. Still, one X post is getting attention for pointing out how common hand breaks are after punching.

The injury it describes is called a boxer's fracture, a break in the fifth metacarpal, which is the long bone connecting the pinky to the wrist.

Again, that is only a possibility.

Icing sore knuckles after a fight is routine, and plenty of players walk away with nothing more than bruises.

The bad blood between these two is real.

A collision with MacKinnon on March 6 ended with Hintz tearing his hamstring in two places, and he missed the rest of the regular season, including Dallas' first-round playoff loss to Minnesota.

Now the teams meet again Wednesday at Ball Arena in the second half of a home-and-home.

Wyatt Johnston has already been ruled out with an illness, so the Stars can't afford to lose another forward.

Early projected lineups list Hintz, but nothing is official until warmups.

For a team sitting at 2-3-1, this hand is the story to watch.

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