Kings forward left game bloodied after taking a puck to the face

Freak accidents can happen from time to time in the NHL whether it's a skate slicing an arm or an extreme high stick to the face. This kind of play happened when the Los Angeles Kings faced off against the New York Rangers yesterday.

The incident occurred halfway through the first period when Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad was attempting to clear the puck from his own zone when it made full contact with LA Kings centre Phillip Danault.

After being struck, Denault skated under his own power towards his bench to allow the trainer to come onto the ice to give him assistance. The scene was quite gruesome as there was lots of blood on the ice.


Not long after, Danault returned to the game wearing a cage and extra facial protection. He managed to score one goal and played 15 minutes of ice time.

It appears he has not broken his jaw; however, he may spend a few hours in the dentist office.