Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) goes to the ice injured after he deflected a goal off his face in the second period against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in Philadelphia. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
Ask any player whose team is trailing 3-0 on home ice and they'd say they would lay their body on the line to get their team going and back into the game.
Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Flyers' Wayne Simmonds, that interpretation became quite literal, as he took a puck off the face that deflected past Ottawa's Craig Anderson in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
It was part of a rally that saw the Flyers tie the game, but Ottawa would get a crucial two points by prevailing 4-3 in a shootout.
He's not the first (and won't be the last) to take one for the team off the noggin' for a goal. And as the Whalers' Andrew Cassels might tell you - injuries will come and go, but scoring a puck of your face? That might only happen once or twice in a lifetime.
Update: Simmonds went to the dressing room to be stitched up, put on a visor and was back on the ice later in the period. He had a front-row seat as his team showed his sacrifice wasn't wasted - tying the game before the end of that same period.
Justin Piercy
Originally from Fredericton, NB, Justin has worked in newsrooms for Astral Media Radio, Brunswick News Inc., the Toronto Star and CTV. But now he's here at CBCSports.ca to report on the sports you care about while also showing you stuff from the internet he thinks you might like.
