Dillon escapes major injury

DENVER — Winnipeg Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon has dodged disaster after suffering a gruesome skate cut to his hand.

The injury, which occurred at the end of Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, ended up looking a lot worse than it was.

“It’s a big sigh of relief there wasn’t any damage done,” coach Rick Bowness said following Saturday’s practice at Ball Arena.

That means no harm to the muscle or tendons, which was the initial fear given how deep the wound appeared to be.

“Our doctors did a fantastic job of stitching him up,” said Bowness.

Indeed, give a big assist to Dr. Peter MacDonald, the head team physician of the Jets who is travelling with them during the playoffs. Sources say his quick actions played a pivotal role during what was a chaotic and troubling scene that left teammates visibly shaken in the immediate aftermath.

“It was scary,” said captain Adam Lowry. “I think any time a skate blade is involved you never know what’s going to be the outcome or anything like that. Rob Millette and our training staff do a great job making sure we’re taken care of, we’re ready to play, through bumps and bruises, the treatments they do, and having Dr. McDonald on the trip and Dr. Gerald Olin, taking over 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.

“It’s nights like those that you’re really grateful that we have a supporting staff like that.”

Dillon did not participate in Saturday’s skate, but Bowness wouldn’t rule him out for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, even though that would seem to be a longshot.

“Basically it’s day-to-day,” said Bowness. One of Logan Stanley or Colin Miller would come into the lineup if Dillon can’t go.

As for how the injury occurred, nobody is entirely sure.

There was a huge scrum following the final buzzer, with Dillon and Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime getting tangled up as tempers flared between the Central Division rivals.

“You have mayhem in there, all those bodies in there, it’s tough to figure it out,” said Bowness. “Obviously a skate blade got him in there somewhere.”

Duhaime was asked on Saturday for his take on what went down.

“No idea. We got up after that and I kind of saw he was gushing blood there. It’s a scary scene and you never want to see that,” he said.

“He was on the ground there and you never really want to be on the ground in scrums like that. Ref was telling us to cool it and we kind of just parted ways there. And he had that cut, so that’s unfortunate.”

Duhaime, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Minnesota Wild, has had plenty of fierce battles with Dillon over time.

“He’s really tough. He’s really hard to play against,” he said. “I’ve been playing against him for years. He’s a great defenceman, plays a really hard game. He’s really physical.”

Dillon, 33, is a pending unrestricted free agent who brings plenty of physicality, poise and leadership. His absence would be significant.

“He’s often the heartbeat of the team,” said blue-line partner Neal 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, so he’s a big part of the team.”

Dillon had a career-high eight goals in 77 regular-season games, along with 12 assists, and was off to a strong start in the playoffs with three assists in the first three games.

“He’s huge,” said Lowry. “He offers a different element on the back end. He’s abrasive, he’s physical, he moves the puck well, he’s a great penalty killer, he’s a leader in the dressing room.

“I can’t say enough good things about what he means to our team. 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.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg