Rangers fans nearly strangle man fighting for Henrik Lundqvist's goalie stick (VIDEO)

If a grown man can steal a puck from a child when it is tossed into the stands during an NHL game, imagine the furious battle when goalie Henrik Lundqvist's game stick is offered up to the Madison Square Garden masses.

Following the New York Rangers' 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, Lundqvist was named one of the game's three stars for stopping all 33 shots he faced to record his first shutout of the season.

After walking back out of the tunnel and doing a quick skate around the ice to salute the fans, Lundqvist decided to toss his stick into the adoring crowd. That's when a bunch of fans had a tug-of-war for the prized souvenir with one poor guy in the middle nearly getting strangled in the middle of the tussle.

The broadcast cut away before we can see how it all ended, but the New York Daily News reported that that the ushers decided that if the fans couldn’t play nice, then nobody could have it, and they took the stick back to the Rangers locker room.

Henrik Lundqvist OK after taking puck to throat (VIDEO)

Madison Square Garden fell quiet for what seemed like an eternity Saturday night after Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was struck directly in the throat by a shot deflected by Carolina's Jay McClement.

It was at 3:02 of second period when Lundqvist took the inadvertent shot after teammate Ryan McDonagh's stick accidentally lifted Lundqvist's mask while he battled with McClement in front of the net, and the puck slammed into the goalie's windpipe.

"It's hard to breathe for a couple of minutes, got a little light-headed," King Henrik said later. "I had some headaches for the rest of the game. They said that was because I couldn't breathe properly."

hit in the throat can't stop King Henrik from making ridiculous saves: http://t.co/fqfuWHKPhM https://t.co/EhjlEseZcF” @Mikemendolia_17
— Brad Hoffer (@BradHoffer39) February 1, 2015

Backup goalie Cam Talbot started stretching as both concerned benches stood around while Lundqvist stayed down on the ice.

Finally, to cheers of "Henrik, Henrik" Lundqvist got to his knees, slowly stood up and had a sip of water before strapping his helmet back on.

"I was getting ready for the shot, then I just feel a stick under my chin. It pulled up my helmet, so I lost the vision of the puck. I had a bad feeling about it because I could see the puck coming but then I lost track of it," said Lundqvist, who finished the 4-1 victory with 31 saves.

Hurricanes' Michal Jordan gets another unfavorable comparison to... Michael Jordan (PHOTO)

The curse of having the same name as a celebrity or legendary athlete is a cross some people have to bear.

It might get you a convenient restaurant reservation over the phone but, in the case of Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan, that novelty has become tiresome.

During Wednesday's game against Carolina, the Nashville Predators trolled the Hurricanes player with an unbeatable comparison with NBA legend Michael Jordan. 

The 24-year-old Czech Republic native saw the comparison and showed a sense of humor about it.

Here we go again...story of my life!🙈 thanks a lot @PredsNHL thanks a lot pic.twitter.com/KwLYHRBsg9
— Michal Jordan (@TheBigCzech23) December 3, 2014

This guy knows the feeling:

Brodeur returns to net and scores strangest goal ever

Martin Brodeur returned to the New Jersey Devils' net Thursday night and, besides giving the team their first road win since Feb. 21, scored what could be the oddest goal ever.

During a Devils' power play against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Devils were whistled for a delayed penalty. Because the play doesn't stop until until the penalized team touches the puck, the Hurricanes pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, assuming the Devils couldn't score without touching the puck. How can a team score without touching the puck? Simple.

A wayward pass by Jordan Stall bounces off the boards , travels the length of the ice, and into the open net.  Since Brodeur was the last Devils player to touch the puck (while making a save) he gets credited with the goal.



The fluke bounce silenced the confused PNC Arena crowd before it became the third goal of Brodeur's 21-year career giving him the most ever for an NHL goaltender.

More important to the Devils, the 4-1 victory was their first on the road after going 0-4-2 since Brodeur was sidelined with a neck injury.  Brodeur's teammates were happy to see the 40-year-old goalie back in front of the net.

"Scoring a goal and just keeping us in the game the first period ... unbelievable," said center Travis Zajac. "He was awesome tonight."