Photo shows how lucky Senators’ Brannstrom was to avoid serious injury

Auston Matthews failed to score on the empty net, and in the process his skate made contact with Erik Brannstrom.

Opening night in the NHL had plenty of what hockey fans love to see. Fun, competitive games with lead changes, several highlight-reel goals from the league’s marquee stars, an OT winner, a banner raising and more.

It also featured a scary incident at the conclusion of the Ottawa-Toronto game when Senators defenceman Erik Brannstrom sustained a facial laceration when he got tangled up with Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews.

As you can see in the video at the top of the page, Brannstrom prevented Matthews from registering a hat trick in the waning seconds of Toronto’s 5-3 victory Wednesday. However, Brannstrom’s effort resulted in Matthews going airborne with the heel of his left skate nicking the rookie blueliner below his visor.

Thankfully, Sens head coach D.J. Smith told reporters at Scotiabank Arena following the contest that Brannstrom required stitches, but avoided serious injury and is expected to be fine.

The Twitter account @SensInsider posted this photo of Brannstrom Thursday morning that shows just how close Matthews’s skate came to Brannstrom’s eye.

Brannstrom finished the season opener with one shot on goal, two blocked shots and an even plus/minus rating in 15:57 of ice-time while partnered with veteran Ron Hainsey.

The 20-year-old from Eksjo, Sweden was selected 15th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Draft before being sent to the Sens in the Mark Stone trade and figures to be a huge piece of Ottawa’s future going forward.

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