Home / News / Jakub Vrana scores twice for Blues after taking skate blade to face during morning skate and getting 25 stitches

Jakub Vrana scores twice for Blues after taking skate blade to face during morning skate and getting 25 stitches

By Ian Oland

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March 16, 2023 1:26 am

Jakub Vrana had a signature performance during a crazy game against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.

The Czech winger scored twice for the Blues after taking a skate blade to the face during the morning skate — an injury that head coach Craig Berube described as very bloody. Vrana received 25 stitches to close the cut and wore a full bubble during the game seemingly no worse for wear.

Vrana’s first goal came 14:10 into the first period. Skating the puck past several Wild defenders, V found some open ice and beat Marc-Andre Fleury high short-side.

Three minutes and 43 seconds later, Vrana scored again via a huge slap shot off a faceoff. The shot beat MAF to the far side of the net, just past his outstretched glove.

Vrana now has four goals in five games with the Blues since being traded by the Red Wings for a seventh-round pick and minor-leaguer Dylan McLaughlin. The Red Wings retained 50 percent of Vrana’s remaining salary.

Wednesday’s performance marked Vrana’s first multi-goal game of the season. He also had a team-high five shots on goal.

Vrana’s wild day started in the morning when he was participating in a power play drill during practice. The 2018 Stanley Cup champion collided with a teammate and took a skate blade just under his nose.

Per The Hockey News:

Vrana, who has played four games with the Blues, was holding a towel over his nose and bleeding. He had both nostrils plugged, gauze and tape wrapped following stitches as he was leaving Enterprise Center following one of those injuries that could have been much worse had it been in a different spot.

“He needed to get some work done,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “It’s a pretty bad cut. He’ll come ready to play and see what happens. It was kind of unfortunate. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that a morning skate before. Kind of a freak thing.

“They were battling on the walls. I didn’t really see what happened. I was kind of watching but not real close. Next thing you know there’s blood everywhere. A skate came up and got him.”

But Vrana didn’t let gnarly cut stop him from creating 40 percent of the Blues’ total offense on the night — an 8-5 loss.

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