Daniel Paille Suffers Facial Injury Blocking Shot, Putting Damper on Another Resounding Bruins Victory

BOSTON — The Bruins have had plenty to celebrate in the past week, as they've finally put together their first winning streak of the season and outscored opponents 18-5 in the last three games.

But Monday night's 6-2 triumph over the New York Islanders at the Garden also had a somber moment early in the third when Bruins forward Daniel Paille was struck in the face by a slap shot.

The play happened 3:09 into the third when Islanders defenseman Steve Staios teed up a bouncing puck for a shot from the right point and it hit Paille in the face as he tried to block it. Paille does wear a protective visor, but he was still cut badly, which left a large pool of blood on the ice as he was helped off.

The extent of his injuries was not known immediately after the game, but teammates said Paille was walking around the locker room and were optimistic he had escaped more serious injury.

"He's going to be seen by some specialists tonight," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "The puck hit him in the face and the nose area, so we'll probably know more [Tuesday] once he's seen by the specialists."

The incident threatened to derail the Bruins, who were understandably shaken by the sight of their fallen teammate. But the Bruins rallied for two quick goals minutes after Paille was hurt and pulled away for the win.

"Yeah, a little scary moment," Bruins forward Milan Lucic said. "Just looking at what happened there, the puck kind of jumped on Staios there and it's one of those times where it's good he had a face shield on. It's good to see him. We saw him here before he went for an X-ray there and good to see him walking around and feeling fine after that."

Lucic, whose taken more than a few knocks on his own nose over the years, was even able to joke about the incident when asked if Paille had been hit around the eye.

"No it hit him right on [the nose]," Lucic said. "It looks kind of like mine now."

But the incident was no laughing matter initially. It's part of the risk players like Paille take on a nightly basis while sacrificing their bodies, and linemate Gregory Campbell knows all too well how real those risks are.

"I actually had the exact same thing happen," Campbell said. "It was just kind of a fluke play, you go to front the shot and the puck rolls up on the defenseman. Thank god he had a visor. There's a lot of damage there considering the fact that he had a visor. Those are the things you never want to see, especially in the face and head area. You see a lot of guys take pucks there and not recover too well. But it looks like he's doing well. He's walking around here, a couple stitches. I don't know what else happened to him. He's always willing to block shots, even if it's with his face. But those plays are dangerous, so it's great to see him up and walking around."

Campbell admitted it is not easy to put yourself in the path of pucks that can travel upwards of 100 miles per hour, but it comes with the territory for defensive forwards and penalty killers like Campbell and Paille.

"It is part of our job, it's part of the danger of this game," Campbell said. "Injuries are never a good thing, whether it's somebody on your team or another player. It's probably the worst part of the game seeing somebody get hurt, but it's the risk we take. You've got to lay it on the line when you go out there. It's not easy to bounce back from that, especially when you see a teammate go down."