Stars' Rich Peverley collapses

— -- DALLAS -- The game between the Dallas Stars and the Columbus Blue Jackets was postponed by the NHL on Monday night after Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench during the first period.

Play was halted 6:23 in as Peverley was quickly carried from the bench. A public address announcement was made several minutes later that the 31-year-old Peverley was conscious and taken to a hospital.

"We treated (Peverley) for a cardiac event successfully," Dr. Gil Salazar said. "As soon as we treated him, he regained consciousness. He was able to tell me where he was."

There was no immediate announcement of when the game would be made up. Columbus was leading 1-0.

Peverley had missed last Tuesday's game against Columbus for an irregular heartbeat, an issue that kept him out of the preseason and the first game of the regular season and for which he had surgery in September.

Stars coach Lindy Ruff, speaking to media less than an hour after the game was postponed, lauded the work of the medical staff for their reaction in the wake of Peverley's collapse, saying there had been no indications before the game of any issues.

"There wasn't any concern," Ruff said. "Doctors have done a fabulous job monitoring the situation."

Ruff said he saw Peverley skate off the ice after a shift and immediately collapse.The game had been stopped after players from both teams attracted the officials' attention by banging their sticks on the boards and the ice.

"My first emotion was, 'We need somebody here real quick,' " Ruff said.

"He was tended to by medical personnel immediately and was conscious upon being transferred to a local hospital for further evaluation," the Stars said Monday.

Back in September, general manager Jim Nill said the training staff picked up the irregular heartbeat on an EKG during Peverley's physical.

Peverley returned from the absence and had played in 62 games this season, missing just two, and was tied for third on the team in points.

Peverley joined the Stars prior to the 2013-14 season as part of the trade that brought Tyler Seguin to Dallas from Boston.

"There's nobody in there that wants to play hockey right now," Ruff said of the players in the Star's clubhouse. "And I think everybody understands that."

The Stars conveyed the message to the Blue Jackets that they weren't up for finishing the game on Monday.

"They're shaken and they want to reschedule. We understand that," John Davidson, the Blue Jackets president of hockey operations, told Fox Sports Ohio. "They were shaken to the core."

Both teams skated off the ice. The Stars didn't go directly through the tunnel next to their bench, but through a door at the south end of the rink.

Information from The Associated Press and ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett was used in this report.