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Mark Giordano takes out Cam Fowler in knee-on-knee hit (Video)

Josh Cooper
ANAHEIM, CA - APRIL 4: Athletic trainer Joe Huff of the Anaheim Ducks examines Cam Fowler #4 after a hit during the third period of the game against the Calgary Flames at Honda Center on April 4, 2017 in Anaheim, California. Fowler was helped off the ice after the examination. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) ***Local Caption ***
Athletic trainer Joe Huff of the Anaheim Ducks examines Cam Fowler #4 after a hit during the third period of the game against the Calgary Flames at Honda Center on April 4, 2017 in Anaheim, California. Fowler was helped off the ice after the examination. (Getty Images)

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler had to leave his team’s game against the Calgary Flames after a knee-on-knee hit by defenseman Mark Giordano.

The play happened a little over five minutes into the third period. Fowler came into the Flames’ zone and fired a shot on the Calgary net and shortly after he released the puck, Giordano slammed into Fowler.

“He came through the middle with a lot of speed and I was honestly coming across trying to make a hit on him and I got to watch the game, but I think our legs collided. I don’t know how bad, I just hope he’s OK,” Giordano said after the game, a 3-1 Ducks win. “You don’t like to see guys get hurt. There was no intent to hurt him there. I was just trying to come across in a 2-1 game to try to stop him from getting to our net, trying to make a hit and the result was, I don’t know if our legs collided or not, I think they did and I hope it’s nothing too serious.”

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Fowler needed to be helped off the ice and couldn’t put weight on his left leg. Shortly after the hit, Ducks defenseman Josh Manson fought Giordano and hit the Flames’ captain hard with an uppercut punch.

“You saw our reaction. Obviously we weren’t happy with the hit. He’s one of our best players. Who knows the severity of the injury, but it looked like he was in a lot of pain. We weren’t happy with it. We responded the way we did,” Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. “We’re a team that sticks up for each other. That’s always been one of our M.O.s. We’re a physical team. We care about each other and we care about Cam. We don’t want to see a teammate on the ice and getting helped carried off.”

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Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said Fowler suffered a lower-body injury but didn’t have a further update on the severity of the problem.

Fowler made the Pacific Division all-star team this year and has been the Ducks’ best all-around blue liner. Coming into Tuesday he had scored a career-high 11 goals and played a team-high 24:55 per-game.

The Ducks are currently struggling with health issues on the blue line to some of their top defensemen. Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm are both out this game with upper-body injuries, though they are not considered long-term issues. It is the second straight game the two defensemen have missed.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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