Jets’ Barron returns to game with more than 75 stitches after taking skate to head

CITYnews halifax \ By Sportsnet Staff

Winnipeg Jets forward and Halifax native Morgan Barron suffered a scary injury early in Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights when he was cut in the forehead by a skate.

During a scramble in front of the Vegas goal, Barron fell to the ice just as Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit was lifting his leg. Brossoit’s skate slid behind Barron’s visor, cutting his forehead and drawing blood.

Barron left the game but returned midway through the second period with a full cage and more than 75 stitches.

Jets’ Bowness describes Barron’s return to game as ‘inspiration for our players’

“They did a great job stitching me up and obviously it missed my eye so just glad it didn’t get me in a really bad spot,” said Barron post-game.

“I was trying to figure out if the puck went in because it was pretty close. I kinda saw the skate coming and just an unlucky play I think, a little bit unfortunate. I think the first thought was that I could see out of the eye so that was the main thing.”

The 24-year-old is coming off his first full regular season with the Jets, scoring eight goals and 21 points in 70 games. He had 10:44 of ice time on Tuesday night, recording five hits and three shots on goal — more shots than Vegas forwards Jack Eichel and Mark Stone had combined.

“That was a pretty serious cut, so give him a ton of credit for coming back and playing, and that’s an inspiration for our players as well,” said head coach Rick Bowness. “He’s on the bench and they’re all saying, you know, ‘great to see you back.’ I think Morgan’s presence coming back from that — because they all realized how bad it was — it gave everyone a big boost.”

“He looked like he got attacked by a shark to be honest,” teammate Adam Lowry added. “It’s a scary thing. We’re all so worried about the puck crossing the line, and all of a sudden we see a trail of blood, basically from the crease all the way to the bench.”

The Jets ultimately won the game 5-1.