On November 7th, 2017 New York Islanders forward, Nikolay Kulemin’s 2017-18 season came to an end. It was his 13th game of the year and while trying to retrieve a loose puck near the benches, he was thrown into the boards by Eric Gryba of the Edmonton Oilers. At first, Kulemin got up and made the short trip to the bench but after the play was blown dead for the penalty against Gryba (a two-minute minor for boarding), Kulemin skated across the ice and down the tunnel.
Six days later it was announced that Kulemin had surgery on his right shoulder and would be out for six months, ending his season with only 13 games played, a goal, and two assists.