Glen Gulutzan delivers update after Nils Lundkvist suffers deep facial cut
Glen Gulutzan gave Dallas the update everyone awaited: Nils Lundkvist suffered a deep facial laceration from a skate and will be evaluated back in Dallas.
The Stars head coach also said he wasn't sure if the 25-year-old defenseman left the building to go to the hospital. That's not a small detail.
That's a coach with limited information about a serious injury.
The cut came on a sequence with Wild forward Michael McCarron. Lundkvist took him down along the boards and the skate came up at the worst possible angle.
There's no timeline on a return. Facial lacerations from a skate are unpredictable. Some heal in days. Some take weeks. Some involve nerves, muscles, and follow-up surgeries.
Lundkvist had been a steady fit for the Stars. The Swedish blue-liner posted 2 assists across the first two playoff games and a plus-12 rating during the regular season.
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Glen Gulutzan loses a quiet contributor in a tightening series
Gulutzan now has to reshape his bottom pair. The 25-year-old skated over 18 minutes a night and killed penalties for a team that built its identity on suffocating defensive structure.
Replacing those minutes is harder than the box score suggests. Lundkvist's $1.25 million cap hit was one of the better bargains in the Stars dressing room.
The injury image is the part that lingers. Skates to the face are the kind of moment that pulls everyone in the building out of their seat for the worst possible reason.
Will this push the league to address neck and facial protection again? It should. The conversation has been on the table for years and incidents like this one keep dragging it back to the front.
McCarron didn't intend any of it. The 31-year-old veteran was just being knocked down hard, and skates do what skates do when bodies fall awkwardly.
That doesn't help the Stars. They're now a defenseman down with a series that has been physical, fast, and unforgiving since Game 1.
John Hynes will have a clean conscience.
Gulutzan has a lineup to rebuild before the next puck drop. Lundkvist is the one waiting on a doctor's office in Dallas, hoping the news is better than the visual.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 25 | 320 ANSWERS Glen Gulutzan delivers update after Nils Lundkvist suffers deep facial cut Should the NHL mandate facial protection equipment after the Nils Lundkvist injury ? | ||
| Yes | 184 | 57.5 % |
| No | 136 | 42.5 % |
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