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Canada's Eric Staal (R) lies injured on the ice during their 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship quarter-final match against Sweden at the Globe Arena in Stockholm May 16, 2013.ARND WIEGMANN/Reuters

Canadian captain Eric Staal had to be helped off the ice after a knee-on-knee collision with Sweden defenceman Alex Edler in the first period of the quarter-final game at the world hockey championship.

Staal clutched his left knee and was in obvious pain after Edler skated into the Sweden zone and clipped Staal's knee at 15:52 of the first period.

Staal was trying to corral a rebound on his backhand after his initial shot was stopped by Sweden goaltender Jhonas Enroth.

Edler, who plays for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct on the play.

He threw his stick in anger as he left the ice.

Staal, a star with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and the only member of Canada's 2010 Olympic team in Stockholm, has three assists at the tournament.

Staal's brother Marc also suffered a scary injury this season when he was hit in the eye with a puck on March 3.

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