Washington Capitals forward Daniel Winnik decided to make an aggressive play on Thursday night with his team up by a goal in the third period. As Reilly Smith of the Florida Panthers cranked up for a shot on the Capitals’ goal, Winnik dropped down to the ice – rather early – in an attempt to block it.

The puck deflected off his head, which was turned towards the goal for protection.

It looked like this:

Daniel Winnik took a scary puck to the head. #CapitalsTalk https://t.co/xSooWVOz9K — CSN Capitals (@CSNCapitals) October 21, 2016





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Winnik stayed down on the ice for several seconds, and then skated off on his own. He returned to the game a few shifts later.

So, Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz, what happened to Winnik on that play?

“Yeah, he didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Trotz after the game. “He got the puck in his ear hole. It sorta pinched off his ear.”

What?

“The trainers looked at him. He was just fine. He was missing a piece of his ear.”

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“It got chewed up a little bit.”

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“It’s just a small piece.”

Oh, OK.

“But it got chewed up.”

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Congrats to Daniel Winnik on avoiding any other catastrophic injury and getting back out there to help the Capitals to a 4-2 win. You clearly lobe what you do.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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