Boston Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk caught some friendly fire just just over the midway point of the first period in Game 4 on Sunday against the Florida Panthers.
A pass from Taylor Hall as the Bruins entered the offensive zone caught an unexpecting DeBrusk on the side of the helmet and required him to go back to the locker room for medical attention.
But DeBrusk admitted the early ailment might have been the best thing for him as he went on to score two goals in Boston's 6-2 win over the Panthers at FLA Live Arena.
"Dusty (Stuck), one of our trainers, kind of freaked out a little bit on the bench because there was a lot of blood," DeBrusk told reporters, per team-provided video. "But just a couple of stitches. Thought it was the ear, but it was a little bit higher than that. Kind of woke me up, honestly."
DeBrusk didn't waste any time getting back into the middle of the action at the start of the second period. With the Bruins on the power play to begin the frame thanks to a cross-check from Matthew Tkachuk on Garnet Hathaway, DeBrusk was the beneficiary of some tic-tac-toe passing.
Taylor Hall, who has elevated his play during the playoffs, made a smooth entry into the zone before feeding the puck over to Dmitry Orlov, who made a one-time pass to DeBrusk in front of the net. There wasn't much for DeBrusk to do except put the puck in the net.
"I actually didn't see it coming right away," DeBrusk said. "I had to kind of had to stop and adjust, but it was right on my tape. It was a really nice play. Obviously, a great entry there. Just tried to get to the net and he found me. It was a perfect play."
DeBrusk used a similar approach to net a pivotal goal in the third period with the Panthers breathing down the necks of the Bruins. After a Sam Bennett power-play tally got Florida within one with 13:49 remaining, the Bruins answered just under two minutes later with DeBrusk scoring from the doorstep again as he put home a rebound.
The play from DeBrusk sparked three unanswered goals from the Bruins to close out Game 4 as getting the stitches sure proved to be worthwhile for DeBrusk.
