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Jets’ Tanev leaves game after taking puck to head, returns to finish game

tanev

Anyone who watches the Winnipeg Jets on a regular basis will know of the punishment Brandon Tanev takes.

Some of it is self-inflicted -- he skates fast and sometimes hits the boards harder than he hits opponents.

But most of the time it’s because he puts his body on the line in the name of making sure pucks don’t reach the net. Tanev has been drilled by more pucks than a garage door of an aspiring young hockey player.

He takes a beating.

So it wasn’t surprising to see him get drilled by another puck (although this one came in the offensive zone) on Sunday night against the Arizona Coyotes. But it was a little astonishing that he returned to the game.

Tanev was working in the slot when he got crosschecked by Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, sending the former to the ice. At the same time, Jets d-man Tyler Myers was unloading a point shot toward the net. Instead of deflecting the puck, Tanev took it straight to the back of his head.

Understandably, Tanev stayed on the ice for some time and ended up leaving the game.

But like Tanev often does, he shook it off and returned to the game roughly eight minutes later. It’s impressive and lucky.


Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck