Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson can consider himself lucky Thursday night. The blueliner was cut and bloodied by the skate of New York Rangers winger Rick Nash, but was able to return to the game after getting a few stitches.
Erik Johnson has scary moment, face cut by Rick Nash’s skateThe past week hasn’t been a good one in terms of errant skates and scary incidents. This past weekend, there was an extremely graphic incident in which KHL veteran Vitaly Sitnikov took a skate to the throat, and Thursday night Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson was sliced open by the skate of New York Rangers winger Rick Nash.
Johnson and Nash were skating towards a loose puck midway through the second period of Thursday’s game between the Avalanche and Rangers when Nash stopped abruptly. The sudden stop caused Nash's right leg to swing up and it clipped Johnson in the face. Johnson went to the ice clutching his face, and he removed his gloves to check for blood. Incredibly, Johnson got up without any help and headed to the dressing room:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnQ-ArJ7yAY[/embed]
Johnson needed a few stitches and, all told, missed less than three minutes before getting back onto the ice. Per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Johnson’s cut was to the inside of his lip and he had “a scratch across his visor.”
Thankfully, Johnson was OK, and he shouldn’t miss any additional time. He even poked a bit of fun at himself post-game, tweeting that he couldn’t “get this mug to look much worse” and he “may as well add a few more [stitches].”
(Video via SomeHockeyVideos)