SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Hockey Club captain Clayton Keller went to the locker room a minute into the second period against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night after a puck struck him in the face.
A shot from teammate Michael Kesselring was deflected high and the puck struck Keller. He immediately ripped off his helmet, skated off the ice, and headed to the locker room.
Keller received 12 stitches, eventually returning to the ice with 4:40 left in the second with swelling and a cut above his eye. He assisted on Utah’s first goal of the game 40 seconds later and added an empty-netter late in the 5-2 win over the Jets.
“I’m feeling great,” he said after the win. “I got lucky, it didn’t catch my eye. When it happened, it happened so fast, I didn’t really feel much. You know, I tried to look through my eye, and I knew I could. So, I really wasn’t too worried after that.”
Keller has 10 goals and 20 assists over his past 22 games. He had a goal and three assists in Utah’s 4-2 win over St. Louis on Saturday, matching his NHL career high with four points.
“It’s a little tough sometimes, just because you’re so locked in,” Keller said of the wait before he returned to action. “You have a ton of energy, and then I was kind of sitting there for 20 minutes just laying down on my back. So, when I came back out, I just tried to get my legs into it, and be simple.”
Keller leads the expansion club in points (50) and assists (34) this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.