Zach Werenski’s face went viral Sunday, and when you see his face, you’ll think that sentence sounds way worse than it does.
Werenski is the Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman who tried to block Pittsburgh Penguin Phil Kessel’s shot in the second period of the Penguins’ 5-4 overtime victory, only have the puck hit his stick and careen into his face below his right eye. He bled copiously, as you might expect, play continued, as you would surely expect, and Pittsburgh scored nine seconds later, as you would figure given the tone of the series.
And he got stitched up, went back out, and played until the area around his eye, a bright purple trashbag of blood, swelled too much for him to see out of the eye, which is so hockey it is hard to explain it in any other way.