Jets' Morgan Barron takes skate to face, returns after 75 stitches

Jets’ Morgan Barron takes skate to face, gets 75 stitches and returns to playoff game

Winnipeg center Morgan Barron cuts his face cut on the skate of Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit

By MARK ANDERSON

Associated Press

April 19, 2023 12:47 PM PT

LAS VEGAS —

Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron took a skate to his face Tuesday night, requiring more than 75 stitches, but he returned to the ice less than a period later.

Barron was injured in the first period during a big scramble in front of the Vegas Golden Knights’ net in Game 1 of the teams’ Western Conference first-round series, which Winnipeg won 5-1. As players collapsed around the front of the net in pursuit of a loose puck, Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit’s skate cut Barron.

“I was trying to figure out if the puck went in because it was pretty close,” Barron said. “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.”

Vegas' Chandler Stephenson helps Winnipeg's Morgan Barron, who is bleeding after he cut his face on a skate

Barron immediately went to the Jets’ locker room, but returned in the second period wearing a full cage on his head.

“Looks like he got attacked by a shark,” center Adam Lowry said. “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.”