Dan Girardi will look like a Stanley Cup playoffs veteran when he takes the ice tonight at Madison Square Garden. Rob Scuderi will compare scars with him tonight.
Both defensemen were injured in Thursday's opener of the Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Rangers series.
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Saturday's Game 2 will start about 8 ET. TV: NBC in the U.S., CBC and French-language TVA Sports in Canada.
Girardi gets attention from a trainer. Getty Images
Girardi was hit in the face with the puck and didn't return to the game. Scuderi got his face in the way of Kevin Hayes' stick, making him the night's top blood donor. He got his red badge of courage but didn't draw a penalty.
Hmm.
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Scuderi explained.
"It was a follow-through from a shot," he said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I tried to move my head back. It happens. I'm not prepared to blame the refs. It's more on us. You need to know when to get yourself into physical battles and when not to."
Girardi in for Game 2, Klein still out, Hagelin's speed, Vigneault challenging refs to watch Pens interference http://t.co/RlUru3NM65
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) April 18, 2015Not to be outdone, Girardi returned to practice Friday.
"I tell myself I've seen everything, and now he's playing through a puck in the face," captain Ryan McDonagh, Girardi's defense partner, told the New York Daily News.
Girardi was clipped when a Chris Kunitz shot ricocheted off his stick. After medical treatment, Girardi found his teeth and jaw were intact. He could have returned, but …
"By the time they were done, there was only a minute left and I only had half my uniform on," he said.
Video showed Scuderi on the bench with a nasty gash on the bridge of his nose sporting fresh stitches. That's hockey, baby.
Scuderi's beauty mark (via NBC Sports and TheScore.com)