LAS VEGAS – Morgan Barron has watched the replay more times than he cares to recall.
But the overwhelming feeling for the Winnipeg Jets winger is that of gratitude after he received a serious cut that required more than 75 stitches to repair.
Barron was back on the ice for the morning skate on Thursday prior to Game 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights and will be in the lineup as the Jets attempt to take a 2-0 series edge.
Much of the discussion was about how Barron was feeling two days after taking a skate blade above the right eye from Golden Knights goalie Laurent Brossoit during a mad scramble in front of the net.
“You know some guys have told me it looks better than I expected and some guys look at me like I’m a science project so I’ve kind of gotten both ends of the spectrum, but it feels pretty good actually,” said Barron, who finished the game with just over 10 minutes of ice time and recorded five hits, despite missing nearly a period to finish the repairs. “I think it feels better than it looks.”
When asked for a rough estimate of how many text messages he received, Barron figured it was between 100 and 200.
“People are really good, just supportive and the overwhelming sentiment was just you know, I’m really grateful for the community I’ve kind of built around me and that includes obviously my teammates and coaches, former teammates and fans and obviously my family so I’m really grateful for all that,” said Barron. “It’s probably not as bad as it looks, just if I touch it and rub it a little bit sore, but most of the day you don’t really feel it.”
Barron never expected to have something like this happen in what was his first Stanley Cup playoff game.
“It’s been more than I expected, obviously. It’s kind of a weird sentiment,” said Barron. “You expect your phone to blow up for doing something, rather than having something happen to me. It’s been a little weird, but everybody reaching out has been so positive. It definitely feels really good to have that support from everybody.”
That the situation has reached the point where Barron is on the receiving end of some chirping from his teammates is a relief because that situation had the potential to be gruesome.
“His modelling days, I think, are over. He might have to move to hand model or foot model from the Hugo Boss stuff he was doing earlier,” said Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon. “It looked like he was back in his Cornell days. Had the full cage going. I can’t say enough about him coming back (the next) period, but coming back and playing as well as he did.”
Barron was able to reach out via text message to his parents and his girlfriend before he returned to Tuesday’s game in the second period to let them know he was okay.
He relayed his mother’s reaction when asked about it on Thursday morning.
“She was really grateful that I was OK, obviously, but she’s a nurse so she’s had all sorts of advice for me and has been checking up,” said Barron. “I think she’s still a little bit worried but, like I said, I’m really fortunate the way things ended up and we have top-notch care in the other room so I’m really grateful for all of the docs and trainers and everybody helping.”
Speaking of reactions, Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson tried to pull Barron out of the pile in front of the net as the play happened and that gesture was appreciated.
“I will give him a little tap on the shin pads tonight to thank him but you know, it is obviously a really classy move, especially in the thick of things, it’s obviously intense out there but I really appreciated his effort and just helped me out a little bit,” said Barron.
Jets head coach Rick Bowness gave Barron a “well-deserved day off” on Wednesday, but the versatile forward came to the rink to maintain his regular routine rather than stay away from the rink.
“No, I was here to get the docs and stuff to check it out. Kind of like go through the video and stuff with everybody,” said Barron, who said he has no restrictions. “But honestly, I slept really well both nights and didn’t have any issues with it. So I kind of wanted to be around and be a part of things.”
Being around the game for as long as he’s been, Bowness felt Barron’s ability to come back into the game after taking 75 stitches ranks among the many impressive feats he’s seen.
“We talked about that with the group this morning. You talk about all in, man, that’s all in,” said Bowness. “When you’re laying there for that long to get stitched up like that, and you come back out with a cage on, and you don’t even hesitate to get back on the ice and you don’t even hesitate to run over somebody – which he did – in the corner on his first shift. We showed a clip of him this morning when he played in Cornell, they wore those cages in college.
“He’s used to the cage, but I don’t think anybody is used to playing with the cut he received the other night. Athletes take a lot of pride in their ability to overcome injury – hockey players are really good at that. You see guys freezing hands, and ankles, elbows and everything else just to play in the playoffs. Morgan, he missed as many shifts as he was willing to miss. I give him full marks. That ranks near the top.”
Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey said Barron’s return provided a huge boost in Game 1.
“Obviously a scary situation. Freak incident. Those things kind of ripple through the team, for sure,” said Morrissey. “To see him come back and see him in between periods, he had a big huddle of people around him working on him and he still was kind of smiling and stuff like that. To have him come back was definitely a boost.
“He’s a character guy, a tough guy. That’s kind of what the playoffs are all about, battling through injury and stuff like that.”
Neither the Jets nor the Golden Knights are expected to make any lineup changes for Game 2, though Bowness said Nikolaj Ehlers (upper body) remains a game-time decision.
