The New York Rangers defenseman was struck on the foot by a puck and fell awkwardly in the first period of a 4-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amalie Arena.
He labored to the bench, flopped over the boards, sat down, put his arms up on the dasher, his head down and winced in pain.
A trainer approached him. Lindgren just shooed him away, his left hand like a fly swatter.
Not surprisingly, he was on the ice for his next shift.
Lindgren's ability to keep going is making him as much an inspiration and he is an impactful player for the Rangers through their playoff run that has them tied 2-2 in the best-of-7 series with the Lightning heading into Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS).
RELATED: [Complete Rangers vs. Lightning series coverage]
"You do whatever you can to get back out there," Lindgren said Saturday, one day before a 3-2 loss in Game 3. "It's playoff hockey and you want to be out there helping the team and you battle through whatever you can."
Lindgren has four points (one goal, three assists) in 15 games. He is a team-best plus-8 playing 21:32 per game.
It was so bad in the first round that Lindgren missed Games 2, 3 and 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins after playing 28:44 and blocking five shots in Game 1, a 4-3 triple-overtime loss, but Lindgren hasn't missed a game since despite leaving two against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round with injuries, only to return minutes later.
The Rangers gave up a combined 16 goals in the three games Lindgren missed.
"He's a warrior," Rangers forward Tyler Motte said. "You've got a lot of guys battling in different ways, some more visible than others, but he shows up to work every single day and it makes you proud to be a teammate with someone like that."
Someone like this:
It was seven minutes into the second period of Game 7 against the Hurricanes when Lindgren couldn't put any weight on his left foot and had to be held up by head athletic trainer Jim Ramsay just so he could glide off the ice and hobble down the tunnel toward the dressing room.
Lindgren had gone barreling into the end boards after getting shoved from behind by Nino Niederreiter.
He was back on the ice less than six minutes later.
"Definitely didn't doubt he was going to come back," defenseman Adam Fox said after that game on May 30, a 6-2 win that put New York in the conference final.
Rangers center Ryan Strome praised Lindgren's character and called him a great example of being selfless for his team during a playoff run.
"I think it's infectious in our team to have guys like that, to have guys blocking shots, going down and being fearless, and he exemplifies that," Strome said. "He plays every game like it's his last and I'm sure these playoffs are right up his alley."
Lindgren admitted it has been a battle for him. He credited Ramsay and the medical staff for basically patching him back up each time so he can continue to play.
But Lindgren also expected it to be like this in the playoffs.
His style is to be gritty, fearless, to play through pain. He's 24 years old and his face is already like a portrait for an old-school hockey player, a scruffy beard masking scars from pucks and skate blades that have left him bloody.
"I kind of figured that you're going to get hit, take some bumps and bruises along the way," Lindgren said. "That's kind of the style I like. I like to be physical, to be intense in that part of hockey. So you have to battle through some stuff. It's everyone out there that's battling through that. That's just playoff hockey."
The irony of it, though, is that Lindgren said his body is feeling better as the Rangers playoff run has gone on.
"I feel like I'm getting healthier and healthier as the games go along," he said.
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said, "The last couple of weeks, there's been no issues."
Well, there was in Game 7 against the Hurricanes, but Lindgren planted his foot back down on the ice and got going again minutes after it looked like he might finally be done.
He's still going into Game 5 on Thursday.
"We expect it from him," Gallant said.
