The Islanders 4-3 overtime win was painful to watch for a few reasons, but none more so than for Winnipeg's Nikolaj Ehlers, whose head absorbed a Frans Nielsen shot and yielded a rebound that bounced right to Kyle Okposo for the game-winning goal.
After gaining the zone, Nielsen put the puck on net towards goalie Michael Hutchinson. The shot (which may have been redirected by the stick of Jacob Trouba) ended up hitting Ehlers in the forehead (or visor maybe? Who knows. Holy shit either way). The puck then dropped right in front of Okposo, who put it past a sliding Hutchinson to give the Islanders the win.
Immediately, Okposo and Nielsen called for trainers and the celebration was a subdued one as players from both teams huddled around Ehlers. Fortunately, he got up and skated off on his own.
The game was the Islanders' fourth straight discombobulated effort on their Western Canada trip. Somehow, they picked up six points in those games and are 6-1 on the trip with "ends" with a game against the Rangers at MSG on Sunday evening.
Also in Thursday's game, Shane Prince scored his first goal as an Islander immediately after being slashed in the hand by Dustin Byfuglien. And after that, Cal Clutterbuck slashed Alex Burmistrov in the back of the legs, but was not called for a penalty.
In other words, be glad you were just watching.