What happened to Nikita Zadorov? Why Bruins' defenseman left down tunnel with potential injury

Nikita Zadorov is a crucial piece of the Boston Bruins' defensive unit.

The 6-foot-7 defenseman is physical and a superb presence in front of the net.

Early on Thursday night, Zadorov went down the tunnel during the first period of the Bruins' Game 3 against the Buffalo Sabres.

That's certainly not what they want.

What happened to Nikita Zadorov?

All that's known for sure is Zadorov left the bench and went down the tunnel.

The TNT broadcast informed viewers of that soon after it happened.

TNT Broadcast says Nikita Zadorov went down the tunnel and is not on the Bruins bench after a big hit on Jack Quinn.

About five minutes later, Zadorov still wasn't on the bench.

Nikita Zadorov is not on the #NHLBruins bench right now.

There's no official injury news, but until Zadorov comes back, there will be a question about what happened.

He dished out a big hit on Jack Quinn early, but maybe he tweaked something on that himself.

More NHL news:

• 'Better Days,' Buffalo and a Sabres team uniting a city
• Porter Martone matches some 1929 NHL history for Flyers
• ESPN announcers trashed for failure to say goalie's name
• A nightmare in goal for the Sabres