DENVER (AP) — Winnipeg defenseman Brenden Dillon is considered day-to-day after receiving stitches in his left hand where he was apparently cut by a skate blade.
The Jets face Colorado in Game 4 on Sunday in a first-round series the Avalanche lead 2-1.
Dillon suffered the laceration after the final horn of Colorado's 6-2 win Friday, when several players were involved in a fight. Soon after, Dillon skated toward the locker room holding his bleeding hand. There was blood on the ice and on the back of Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime's jersey.
“Our doctors did a fantastic job of stitching (Dillon) up. There’s no damage and that’s the most important thing,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said Saturday. “So, we’ll keep him as day-to-day.”
The loss of Dillon would be a blow for the Jets. He's the “heartbeat of the team,” teammate Neal Pionk said.
“He’s throwing his body around, stirring the pot out there and blocking a lot of shots,” Pionk added. "Doing the little things that might not end up on the scoresheet, so he’s a big part of the team.”
Pionk watched a replay of the incident and doesn't know when the cut occurred.
“One of those scrums where something weird happened,” he said. "Just an unfortunate thing.”
Duhaime didn't notice anything, either. He said they were on the ground when the referee told them to cool it and they parted ways.
“We got up after that, and I kind of saw he was gushing blood,” Duhaime explained. “It’s a scary scene and you never want to see that.”
Dillon had eight goals and 12 assists in 77 games during the regular season. He has three assists in this series.
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The Associated Press
