An NHL player said while he was getting 75 stitches for taking a skate to the face, he was wondering whether his team had scored on the play
John Locher/AP Images
- Morgan Barron of the Winnipeg Jets took a skate to his right eyebrow during a playoff game.
- Barron had to get 75 stitches but returned to the game.
- After Winnipeg's 5-1 win, Barron said his first thought was wondering whether his team had scored on the play.
A skate to the face and 75 stitches didn't faze Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron.
In the first period of the Jets' opening round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Barron got caught up in a pile-up in front of the Golden Knights goal.
As Barron leaned over to get in on the scramble, Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit's skate came up, went under Barron's visor and sliced him above his eye.
Barron immediately began bleeding and was assisted off the ice.
Video can be seen below.
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Barron's cut required 75 stitches, and amazingly, he returned to the game, with a full face cage and a considerable bandage above his eye.
John Locher/AP Images
However, none of this seemed to matter to the 24-year-old center. Asked after the game what ran through his head when he got cut, he said he was thinking about whether the Jets scored.
"I was trying to figure out if the puck went in because it was pretty close," Barron told reporters. "I saw the skate coming. It was an unlucky play. The first thought was that I could see out of the [right] eye was the main thing."
Unfortunately, for Barron, the Jets did not score on that play. They did, however, go on to win 5-1.
Jets coach Rick Bowness said after the game that Barron's return gave the team a lift.
"I think more his presence coming back because we all realized how bad it was, and that gave everyone a big boost," he said.