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| - Toronto Maple Leafs All-Star forward John Tavares was released from hospital on Friday, a day after he was stretchered off after taking a knee to the face in a 2-1 NHL playoff loss to Montreal. Tavares was injured in the first period of the first game of the teams' first-round series. Canadiens forward Corey Perry's knee caught Tavares in the head after the Maple Leafs captain had been checked by Perry's teammate Ben Chiarot. The Maple Leafs said Tavares was examined by the neurosurgical team at St. Michael's Hospital and their own medical director, and that after staying overnight he was home and under the supervision of team doctors. Tavares had attempted to rise after the incident but fell backwards from his knees and was on the ice for several minutes before he was wheeled off -- Perry going over to wish him well. "He got hit and I was coming out of the zone," Perry said. "He fell and I tried to jump over him and unfortunately I caught my knee on his head. I don't know what else to do there. I know Johnny pretty well. I just hope he is OK." Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said it was a "difficult" moment to witness. "I've experienced a lot of different things, a lot of tough injuries and stuff like that in my time as a player and as a coach," he said. "In an empty building like that, it was probably the most uncomfortable situation that I've been a part of on the ice. It was really tough to get through. Our players were rattled and concerned. I was obviously very concerned as well. Happy to hear that things are settling down and all of that, but it was a very tough moment." Tavares, whose 50 points (19 goals, 31 assists) this season included 22 (nine goals, 13 assists) in the last 19 games, will be out indefinitely. "That's a big loss for us, but we've got lots of depth," Keefe said. "Obviously, we'll make a lineup change to adjust to it. All our guys are just going to have to play better. It's a big loss, it's our captain. "Good teams overcome these types of things and that's going to be on us here now." bb/rcw
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