BOSTON -- Sporting a two-inch gash above his right eye that required roughly 40 stitches, Boston forward Shawn Thornton looked every bit like the guy who was on the wrong end of Fernando Pisani's skate blade Tuesday night.
Thornton had to leave the game against Chicago at TD Garden a little over three minutes into the second period after his face was accidentally sliced open by Pisani's skate. Thornton said he was finishing his check on Pisani when the Chicago forward's skate came up and got him right above the eye. He called it "accidental."
Thornton admitted he was lucky to escape further injury, and he praised the craftsmanship of Dr. Lars Richardson, who stitched his face back together. He wasn't sure if he would be able to play Thursday against Toronto, but said he would visit with the doctors before making any decisions.
"It could have been worse. It could have been on (my) eye," Thornton said. "No headache, no concussion, no nothing. It was just throbbing a little bit from getting some stitches but nothing bad."
Thornton was asked again how tough it was to get that many stitches "because you don't look fine."
"I know I don't look fine, but thanks for reminding me," he responded while laughing. "I don't know if we are that far removed from that we can joke about it."
Thornton said he was told he wasn't allowed to return to the game because of how many stitches he received.
"They had some fine stitches inside and they didn't want those to pop out or I might look deformed afterwards," he said.
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl
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