DENVER — When Game 3 between the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche was over, Brenden Dillon left the ice as fast as he could, clutching his left arm, bleeding from the hand. On Saturday in Denver, his head coach and teammates said they were grateful Dillon’s injury looked more gruesome than it was damaging.
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“We know the gash was there but our doctors did a fantastic job of stitching him up and there’s no (additional) damage and that’s the most important thing,” Rick Bowness said at Ball Arena. “We’ll keep him as day to day.”
Day to day can mean a lot of things during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The critical element is that while Dillon required multiple emergency stitches, the cut didn’t impact nearby nerves, tendons or worse.
“It was scary. Any time a skate blade is involved you never know what’s going to be the outcome,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “Everything we’ve heard he’s avoided things that could have been far more serious. (I’m) glad that the worst-case scenario didn’t happen.”
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Dillon, 33, was tangled up with Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime underneath a chaotic, violent postgame scrum when he was cut. It’s difficult to see the moment of injury on video replay, and the Jets don’t seem to have a clear view of it either.
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“All those bodies in there, it’s tough to figure it out,” said Bowness. “Obviously a skate blade got him in there somewhere.”
“I didn’t know until I was skating back to the bench,” said Dillon’s defense partner, Neal Pionk, who was on the ice at the time. “It’s one of those scrums where something weird happened. I even watched the replay a few times, I still don’t know what happened.”
Dillon is a key element of Winnipeg’s defense, playing top-four minutes at even strength, killing penalties and offering a level of snarl and physical play that is unmatched among Jets defensemen. He’s played the fourth-most minutes among Jets skaters in the first-round series heading into Game 4 in Denver and would be a substantial loss to the club if he’s unable to play. The Jets trail Colorado 2-1 and are particularly struggling on the penalty kill, one of Dillon’s biggest strengths.
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It’s tough to see that part of Winnipeg’s game recovering if Dillon misses time.
“I can’t say enough good things about what he means to our team,” said Lowry. “He plays big minutes, he plays against other team’s best, he sticks up for teammates, and yeah. We’re thankful that the cut wasn’t worse. It could have got his wrist or could have gone elsewhere. First and foremost, just thankful that there wasn’t a worse outcome.”
The Jets aren’t officially ruling Dillon out of Game 4 but stitches tend to need time to set. A hockey player’s hands are always in use and take a lot of abrasion. It seems unlikely that he’d be ready to play without risking further damage to his injury — even acknowledging Dillon’s experiencing a best-case outcome. But hope remains he’ll be back sooner than later — if not for Game 4, then before the end of the series.
Without him, the Jets will need to tap into their depth. Assuming Winnipeg keeps its top pair of Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo together, its most likely replacement for Dillon is 25-year-old defenceman Dylan Samberg. Samberg, like Dillon, is a strong penalty killer, a solid defender and a big shot blocker, but there’s enough inexperience there to have concerns about Samberg’s ability to move the puck under Avalanche forechecking pressure. Pionk has already struggled in that regard with the veteran Dillon at his side. Winnipeg’s second pair could become an issue.
If Samberg bumps up, then Logan Stanley is the most likely defenceman to draw into the lineup alongside Nate Schmidt on Winnipeg’s third pair. The Jets also acquired veteran defenceman Colin Miller at the trade deadline but only dressed him in five regular-season games. Miller brings more top-four experience and would give the Jets three right-handed defencemen in the lineup, along with DeMelo and Pionk, but has yet to play in the playoffs.
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The truth is that Dillon is a unique player on the Jets roster and a key cog on the second pair. Winnipeg will be better off the moment he’s able to return to play.
“He’s one of our toughest competitors, tremendous teammate and he gives you 100 percent every shift out there,” Bowness said. “He’s tough as nails, he battles everybody, he blocks shots. I mean, he does everything you want your veteran D to do and he’s a great leader on the ice and in the room.”
“He’s often the heartbeat of the team,” said Pionk. “He’s throwing his body around, stirring the pot out there and blocking a lot of shots and doing the little things that might not end up on the scoresheet.”
The Jets have a battle in front of them on Sunday afternoon in trying to tie the series with Colorado, but their overwhelming response to Dillon’s prognosis was gratitude.
“It didn’t look good so it’s a big sigh of relief that there wasn’t any (additional) damage done,” Bowness said. “Give our doctors credit. They got right at it and did a great job stitching him up.”
To that end, thank the medical professionals. On a day-to-day basis, Rob Millette and Winnipeg’s training staff look after the players, getting them through their bumps and bruises and preparing them for game action. In an emergency like what happened on Friday night, Lowry says that doctors Peter MacDonald and Gerald Olin took over, helping ensure that the minimum damage was done.
“In that scary situation where Brenden comes off and he’s cut and there’s blood going everywhere, I think we’re very lucky to work with the best people in the world,” Lowry said. “It’s nights like those that you’re really grateful that we have a supporting staff like that.”
Required reading
- The Jets collapsed again. Here’s why they’re in trouble
- Five keys for the Jets to get back on track against the Avalanche
(Photo: Jonathan Kozub / NHLI via Getty Images)