The 26-year-old defenseman for the New York Rangers Marc Staal took a slap shot to the face in Tuesday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, causing an eye injury to the fan favorite.

Flyer Kimmo Timone attempted to get a goal for his team when he took the slap shot that hit Marc Staal in the eye, injuring him.

The puck hit Staal, who immediately grabbed his eye and fell to the ice. Convulsing in pain, Staal attracted the attention of his teammates and the referee, who skated over to check on Staal. When Staal moves his hand you can see what looks like blood fall to the ice.

The Rangers were playing the Flyers in New York at Madison Square Garden, when Staal was helped off of the ice, fans cheered in support for their fallen Ranger.

The New York Rangers have not made a comment about Staal's condition and Staal's twitter remains silent.

However NHL.com says that Marc's brother Eric Staal, who plays for the Carolina Hurricanes told them that the doctors are waiting for the swelling around the eye to go down before they can assess the extent of his injury.

Hockey players can hit a puck anywhere between 75-90 mph. The shot that hit Staal in the eye was deflected, so it was presumably not traveling at top speed.

Dan Giradi, another New York Rangers defenseman comments to ESPN, "I heard the shot and I heard him. It's a scary play to see."

New York Ranger's fans went on Facebook with concern for their fallen favorite, asking how is he doing? And when will they hear about his condition?

Until the doctors can check out Marc Staal's eye there will be no way of knowing how long he will be benched.