"That's as gruesome as it looks", "Career ended": NHL fans appalled by Connor Zary's brutal injury after Drew Helleson knee hit

Calgary Flames center Connor Zary suffered a concerning injury during Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks.

The injury happened during the second period when Zary collided with Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson. The collision resulted in a knee-on-knee hit, leaving the 23-year-old on the ice in severe pain.

Following the play, Helleson was assessed a five-minute major penalty and received a game misconduct for the hit. The Flames later announced that Connor Zary would not return for the remainder of the game.

Here's how NHL fans on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) reacted to Drew Helleson's hit on Connor Zary. One tweeted:

"Career ended."

Another chimed in:

"That's as gruesome as it looks, a knee ain't supposed to bend that way."

Here are some of the other top reactions on X:

"Brutal injury but hit was fine. Zary stretched out," a second fan commented.

"These hits are happening to often! Anaheim player going for the clean hit, Zary tries to avoid check Anaheim players already leaning in for the hit and boom. Knees collide. Don’t think it was intentional," one opined.

"Immediately grabbing his knee…yeah that doesn’t sound great," another chimed in.

"It looked like this lower leg completely separated from his upper leg. I hope he's alright," another concerned fan tweeted.

Sports injury expert Dr. Hajras Grewal shared his insights regarding Connor Zary's injury, highlighting several potential concerns. He noted that the most likely issue could be a bone bruise, which typically requires a week-to-week recovery period.

Additionally, there may be damage to the posterolateral corner structures, similar to the injury suffered by goaltender Thatcher Demko.

There's currently no update on the extent of Connor Zary's injury. The 23-year-old has accumulated 22 points this season.

Connor Zary's Flames down Ducks in OT

On Tuesday, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Calgary Flames at Honda Center. The matchup ended with the visitors winning 3-2 in overtime.

MacKenzie Weeger opened the scoring for the Flames after putting them ahead 1-0 at 19:04 of the first period. At 8:34 of the second period, Alex Killorn tied it 1-1 for the Ducks before Nazem Kadri's tip-in at 12:44 restored the visitors' lead to 2-1 before heading into the final period.

Mason McTavish scored a power-play goal at 7:36, tying the game at 3-3. Both teams failed to break the deadlock in the regulation period. Jonathan Huberdeau then netted the game-winning goal after scoring on the power play 2:05 into the extra period.