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DENVER -- After watching injured teammate Darcy Tucker taken off the ice on a backboard, Milan Hejduk and Wojtek Wolski scored goals in quick succession and the Colorado Avalanche went on to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Friday night.

Tucker was checked into the boards by Carolina forward Tuomo Ruutu as he tried to play the puck in the Hurricanes' end at 14:34 of the second period.

Tucker's face hit the glass hard and he fell to the ice on his back unconscious. He lay motionless for several minutes as Avalanche doctors and trainers attended to him, bringing a hush to both benches and the crowd.

Medical personnel applied a neck brace before strapping the forward to a backboard. Tucker appeared to regain consciousness as he was moved off the ice, revealing a pool of blood where he had been laying for more than 5 minutes.

There was no immediate word on the nature of his injury. The team said Tucker was alert and taken to the hospital for further treatment and evaluation.

Carolina 2 1 1 -- 4

Colorado 2 2 1 -- 5

First Period--1, Carolina, Corvo 1 (Jokinen, Ruutu), 3:16 (pp). 2, Carolina, Ruutu 2 (Wallin, Yelle), 5:49. 3, Colorado, O'Reilly 2 (Wolski, Stewart), 16:16. 4, Colorado, Stastny 2 (Wilson), 16:47. Penalties--Quincey, Col (holding stick), 2:37 Pitkanen, Car (holding), 19:07.

Second Period--5, Colorado, Hejduk 4 (Stastny, Duchene), 10:00 (pp). 6, Colorado, Wolski 5 (Stewart, O'Reilly), 10:40. 7, Carolina, Cullen 3 (Walker, Brind'Amour), 16:15. Penalties--Ruutu, Car, major-game misconduct (boarding), 5:26 Foote, Col (roughing), 5:26 Staal, Car (goaltender interference), 11:46 Wilson, Col (holding), 17:37.

Third Period--8, Colorado, Stastny 3 (Hejduk, Duchene), 6:21 (pp). 9, Carolina, Whitney 4 (LaRose, Staal), 8:40. Penalties--LaRose, Car (holding), 4:38 Pitkanen, Car (high-sticking), 6:14 Staal, Car (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:20 Hannan, Col (cross-checking), 19:41.

Missed Penalty Shot--Whitney, Car, 3:03 third.

Shots on Goal--Carolina 11-12-13--36. Colorado 11-13-12--36.

Power-play opportunities--Carolina 1 of 2. Colorado 2 of 7.

Goalies--Carolina, C.Ward 2-5-2 (36 shots-31 saves). Colorado, Anderson 7-1-2 (36-32).

A--13,673 (18,007). T--2:28. Referees--Dan Marouelli, Francois St. Laurent. Linesmen--Mike Cvik, Jonny Murray.