Just some trademark hockey toughness coming your way.
New York Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein scored the overtime goal to lift his team to victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, capping off an entertaining game between Metropolitan Division adversaries. Did you know that apparently Klein also had to have a piece of his left ear reattached earlier in the evening? Yeah.
Below is video of the incident, which happened late in the first period. Go to the dressing room, get stitched up and, what do you know, Klein returned for the second period. The 29-year-old blue liner would have his moment later on.
“I don’t know if anybody saw his ear there, but he lost a piece of it and they sewed it back,” said Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault, as per NHL.com. “Say what you want about hockey players, but they’re tough [guys].”
Klein lost a portion of his ear on that high stick. Had it sewed back on. 13-14 stitches. Klein channels Prust: "It's only pain."
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) December 9, 2014
Now, below is the video of Klein’s overtime winner, already his sixth of the season as he continues to build on a career high in that category.