Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon earns respect after scary face injury

Nathan MacKinnon earned praise from a hockey analyst after battling through a gruesome facial injury during the Colorado Avalanche‘s 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 of their NHL second-round playoff series.

Late in the second period, Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews attempted to clear the puck out of the defensive zone. Instead, the puck struck MacKinnon directly in the face at close range, leaving the star forward crumpled on the ice as blood quickly poured from his nose and mouth area.

The frightening scene forced arena staff to clean the blood from the ice before play resumed. MacKinnon immediately headed to the dressing room for repairs, but the Avalanche star returned for the third period and later scored an empty-net goal to seal Colorado’s victory.

MORE: Avalanche coach Jared Bednar reacts to viral Nathan MacKinnon pool workout video

During Sportsnet’s postgame coverage, former NHL defenseman Kevin Bieksa joked about MacKinnon’s dramatic night while also praising his toughness.

“I usually don’t cheer for guys for empty-net goals, but I feel like MacKinnon deserved that empty-netter,” Bieksa said. “Yeah. His own teammate shoots the puck at his face, his nose is bleeding everywhere, and he prides himself on his looks. He likes to be a good-looking guy. Now he’s got the blood all under there. So he deserved that empty-netter.”

Bieksa also laughed about the amount of blood on the ice before highlighting MacKinnon’s willingness to return despite the painful injury.

“This was just such a big game,” Bieksa said. “Like, it’s 3-1 now in the series. So there’s the shot from Toews on a non-icing call, and he’s puddles of blood everywhere and, like a hockey player, gets up.”

Then Bieksa jokes, “Whenever your nose is bleeding, kids, lift your head up so all the blood goes over the ice so everybody can see it. That’s the key, right? Because you don’t wanna have a bloody nose and no one sees it, because it’s not really that much damage, but it looks cool.”