The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

NHL player returns to game after skate to face requires 75-plus stitches

By
April 19, 2023 at 9:34 a.m. EDT
Morgan Barron continued playing with a full face mask after a skate cut his face during the Winnipeg Jets’ playoff game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. (John Locher/AP)
Listen
2 min

One of his Winnipeg teammates said Morgan Barron looked “like he got attacked by a shark” when he returned to the ice after taking a skate to the face during the Jets’ Stanley Cup playoff game Tuesday night.

Get the full experience.Choose your plan

Barron required more than 75 stitches to close the cut — he apparently lost count — and returned to the ice less than a period later in Winnipeg’s 5-1 victory in Game 1 of its Western Conference first-round series against the host Vegas Golden Knights. The injury occurred in the first period as players swarmed for a loose puck and Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson pushed Barron, bringing his face into contact with the skate of Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit.

“I was trying to figure out if the puck went in because it was pretty close,” Barron said. “I kind of saw the skate coming. It was an unlucky play, I think. A little bit unfortunate. The first thought was that I could see out of the [right] eye was the main thing.”

The 24-year-old Barron headed for treatment in the dressing room and returned wearing a full cage face mask on his helmet. He was ultimately on the ice for 16 shifts and 10:44, putting three shots on goal and recording five hits.

“Looks like he got attacked by a shark,” Jets center Adam Lowry, who had two goals, said (via the Associated Press). “It’s a scary thing. We’re all so worried about the puck crossing the line, and all of the sudden we see a trail of blood all the way from the crease to the bench.”

Barron, who typically centers Winnipeg’s third or fourth line, appeared in 70 games this season, with eight goals and 13 assists while averaging 13:15 of ice time.

Loading...