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Johnny Boychuk needs 90 stitches after skate to face

Islanders

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 03: Johnny Boychuk #55 of the New York Islanders is injured during the third period against the Montreal Canadiens at the Barclays Center on March 03, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk was injured on Tuesday night when he was hit in the face by the skate blade of Montreal Canadiens forward Artturi Lehkonen in the third period of their game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

It was a terrifying scene as it happened, especially as Boychuk frantically scrambled off the ice holding his face.

On Wednesday, general manager Lou Lamoriello issued an update on Boychuk’s status.

The official word is that while Boychuk needed 90 stitches to repair the cut, there is no damage to his eye and, according to Lamoriello, he should be “fine.”

“Johnny Boychuk is okay,” said Lamoriello when addressing the media on Wednesday. “There has been no damage to his eye. He had quite a night. He felt the skate blade get his eye, but fortunately it just got the eyelid. It took 90 stitches to fix, a plastic surgeon took care of it. I don’t want to exaggerate with the stitches because they do use very small stitches, but there were 90 of them. He will be fine. It’s just a matter of time with the eye opening up and him feeling good.”

It goes without saying that 90 stitches to your eye-lid area is major deal, but given the circumstances Boychuk is very fortunate this situation did not turn out far worse.

This is the third significant injury the Islanders have had to deal with this season due to a skate blade cut.

Cal Clutterbuck missed more than two months after he suffered a cut to his wrist from Patrice Bergeron’s skate back in December.

Casey Cizikas has also been sidelined for the past 10 games after a cut to the leg.

Lamoriello also issued an update on Cizikas on Wednesday.

“Casey is coming along as quickly as he can,” said Lamoriello. “He is walking, he is doing all of the things he should be doing. Hopefully we will get him back on the ice in the next week or so. Then it’s a process of him just getting his strength back. I would say he is at least another couple of weeks away.”

Related: Islanders’ Boychuk injured by skate blade

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.