Bruins
“Stitched up. Not going to be looking good for a little while.”
The Bruins left United Center with another two points secured in the standings on Tuesday night.
But more importantly, Bruins winger Jakub Lauko left Chicago with only a few stitches after a scary sequence during Boston’s 3-0 win over the Blackhawks.
The Bruins’ sixth-straight win to open the 2023-24 campaign was initially marred by Lauko’s injury, with the 23-year-old forward exiting the game in the final period after taking a skate blade to the face.
While knocked over along the boards, Lauko was struck near his left eye by the skate blade of Chicago forward Jason Dickinson. The inadvertent slash immediately drew blood, with Lauko quickly making his way to the Bruins’ bench and down the tunnel with a towel placed over his face.
Despite the optics of Lauko’s injury and how close Dickinson’s skate came to his eye, Jim Montgomery had good news to report after the game.
“Lauko’s good, thankfully,” Montgomery noted. “Scary, with the skate. He got it in the corner of the eye, but it’s good. Nothing touched the eye. … Stitched up. Not going to be looking good for a little while.”
Considering how devastating that injury could have been, both Lauko and the Bruins will accept a few stitches around the eye.
Another impressive goal from rookie Matthew Poitras and a 23-save shutout from Jeremy Swayman highlighted Boston’s sixth win in a row — equaling the franchise’s best start in franchise history (6-0-0, 1937).
But Lauko and a fourth-line unit featuring Johnny Beecher and Patrick Brown also titled the ice in Boston’s favor during Tuesday’s win in Chicago.
Despite logging zero offensive-zone faceoffs during their 6:55 of 5v5 ice time together, the Bruins still held an 8-1 edge in shots on goal whenever the Lauko-Beecher-Brown grouping was out on the ice.
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