Johnny Boychuk dodged a bullet Tuesday night, but he still had to spend some tough time with a plastic surgeon.
The New York Islanders defenseman suffered a grisly eyelid injury while taking a skate blade to his face in the third period of his team’s game against the Canadiens. The injury occurred as Montreal forward Artturi Lehkonen fell to the ice in front of the Islanders’ goal.
Boychuk needed a whopping 90 stitches to fix his eyelid, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello announced Wednesday morning.
“Johnny Boychuk is OK,” Lamoriello said. “There’s been no damage to his eye. He had quite a night. … Fortunately (the skate blade) just got the eyelid. It took 90 stitches to fix.
” … I don’t want to exaggerate with the stitches because they do very small stitches, but there were 90 of them. He’ll be fine, it’s just a matter of time.”
Boychuk Injury Update from Lou Lamoriello: “Johnny Boychuk is ok. Fortunately the skate blade just got the eyelid. It took 90 stitches for a plastic surgeon to fix. But he’ll be fine.” #Isles pic.twitter.com/vYfsx9MAYO
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 4, 2020
The Islanders went on to suffer a 6-2 loss to the Canadiens.
