Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham

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NHL Player Gets 90 Stitches After Getting Face Sliced by Defenseman's Skate

New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk needed 90 stitches after getting struck in the face by the skate of another player. Boychuk was battling for position in front of his own net against the Montreal Canadiens' Artturi Lehkonen halfway through the third period of their game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, when Lehkonen lost his balance

As Lehkonen fell forward to the ice, his legs kicked up into the air, and his skate clipped Boychuk underneath his face shield. Boychuk dropped to the ice, clutching his face. He quickly got up and skated off the ice while holding his glove in front of his face. Despite the gruesome injury, Boychuk should be fine.

Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters that the skate clipped Boychuk's eyebrow, but did not cause any damage to the eye itself.

"Johnny Boychuk is okay," Lamoriello said. "There has been no damage to his eye. He had quite a night. He felt the skate blade get his eye, but fortunately, it just got the eyelid. It took 90 stitches to fix, a plastic surgeon took care of it. I don't want to exaggerate with the stitches because they do use very small stitches, but there were 90 of them. He will be fine. It's just a matter of time with the eye opening up and him feeling good."

Lamoriello did not say how much time Boychuk is expected to miss.

The Canadians won the game 6-2.


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