BUFFALO, N.Y. – Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik lost five units of blood, but doctors never considered his life in jeopardy after the player had his carotid artery nearly severed by a teammate’s skate in a freak and frightening accident.

Zednik underwent an hour of surgery to reconnect the artery Sunday night and was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Buffalo General Hospital on Monday. He was awake and cooperative with the medical staff, doctors said.

Attending surgeon Sonya Noor said there were no initial signs of brain damage, which is a fear whenever the carotid artery is clamped. She said clamps were in place for about 15 to 20 minutes during surgery, which she considers a short time.

“So far, he looks very good. He’s awake, oriented,” said Noor. “He remembers what happened last night.”

Zednik was sliced across the right side of the throat by teammate Olli Jokinen’s skate midway through the third period of Buffalo’s 5-3 victory. Doctors said the skate blade just missed cutting the jugular vein.

The carotid artery supplies blood to the brain, while the jugular vein takes blood from the brain. Blood pressure is much higher in the carotid artery.

According to Noor, the slashed artery was “hanging by a thread.” She stressed if the artery had been completely severed it would have recessed into the neck, requiring even more extensive surgery.

Prior to surgery, doctors noted that Zednik’s blood pressure was dropping, and there was also swelling around the cut making it difficult to breathe. Doctors put a tube in his neck to open an airway.

Robert McCormack, the hospital’s clinical chief of emergency medicine, said: “We became concerned. He was clearly in shock from blood loss. His heart rate was high his blood pressure was a bit low.”

Vascular surgeon Richard Curl, who assisted Noor, said the cut was about an inch-and-a-half deep and also as wide. Doctors were astonished the skate blade did not hit any other arteries or veins or cause any further damage.

“He might have some hoarseness and that’s about it at this point,” said Noor, who said Zednik had a “normal, beautiful artery.”

The Panthers returned home to South Florida following the game, a flight coach Jacques Martin said was “pretty quiet.”

However, Zednik was joined at the hospital by his wife, Jessica, and Karen Cohen, wife of Alan Cohen, who is the Panthers’ general partner, chairman of the board and CEO. The two arrived by charter flight late Sunday night.

Zednik will remain in the ICU at least one more day, but it is uncertain when he will be discharged and allowed to return to Florida, Noor said. It will be six to eight weeks before he can return to normal activity.

Zednik was circling the net behind the play and skating into the corner when Jokinen was upended by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur. Jokinen fell headfirst to the ice, and his right leg and skate flew up and struck Zednik directly on the side of the neck.

Clutching his neck, Zednik left a trail of blood as he somehow raced three-quarters the length of the ice to the Panthers bench. He nearly fell into the arms of Zenobi, who immediately placed a towel on the player’s throat. With the help of defenseman Jassen Cullimore, Zednik was escorted up the tunnel behind the bench and loaded into an ambulance.