Saturday night's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders game against the Dubuque Fighting Saints at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena was suspended midway through the second period following an injury to Dubuque defenseman Dylan Chanter.

Cedar Rapids was leading 2-0 when Chanter and Corey Petrash got into a fight behind the Saints' goal.

Chanter took a final punch from Petrash and fell backwards onto the ice. The back of his head hit the ice and he stayed down. His helmet had been knocked off during the fight. Play was called and the medical staff for both teams came on the ice to attend to Chanter.

After approximately 45 minutes, Chanter was put on a stretcher and taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. He was conscious, and his condition was stable as of 10:30 p.m.

His sister, Whitney-Dawn Chanter, posted on Facebook about 10:40 p.m. that her mother had talked with Dylan and that the CT scan came back all right but Dylan was "slightly confused."

Chanter was released from the hospital and returned to Dubuque late Saturday night, according to the USHL office.

Chanter posted a message to his Twitter account late Saturday that read: "Wanted to let everyone know I'm awake and okay. Thank you so much for all your thoughts (&) prayers. Nothing compares to the hockey community."

It was a scary moment, and brought the crowd at The Stable - which had gotten rowdy at the start of the fight - to silence. Chanter seemed to convulse or shake on the ice before the medical staff could reach him.

Some players from both teams took to a knee on the ice. Eventually the referees sent both teams into the locker rooms.

"All of the people here understand," RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson said. "It's a very difficult situation. We all love sports. But there's a lot of things that are way more important than sports."

The referees and coaches consulted. A call to the USHL Office of the Commissioner was made.

"On our end, there was no decision. Only to suspend the game," Saints assistant coach Oliver David said. "You have a player that is not in good shape."

Both teams came back to the ice after Chanter was taken away and tried to get loose, perhaps preparing to play on, but the ruling came down.

"There was a lot of discussion on should the game be played or not," Carlson said.

The game was suspended, and the USHL will either resume the game at a future date or determine if Dubuque will have to forfeit.

It was "Pink in the Rink" night, and the ice was colored pink in support of cancer prevention. The game was sponsored by Unity Point Health-St. Luke's Hospital.

On the ice, Cedar Rapids got on the scoreboard with a goal by Jack Rowe with just 15.7 seconds left in the first period. Rowe came away with the puck after a scuffle in the corner, and shot high and left over the glove hand of Saints goalie Hayden Stewart.

Cedar Rapids made it 2-0 on a breakaway by Charlie Curti after 3 minutes, 12 seconds had elapsed in the second period.

The Roughriders also had an impressive penalty kill late in the first period with a two-man disadvantage after a pair of penalties put two RoughRiders in the box.

But all of the on-ice action was long forgotten by the time the crowd was sent home with 11:58 left in the second period.

USHL junior hockey allows fighting, but college hockey does not. This incident may force the USHL to re-examine that rule.

"I don't know if it should be (allowed)," Carlson said of the fighting. "Maybe it shouldn't be."