Roman Josi is a playoff warrior and he’s playing after losing a part of his ear. The Nashville Predator defenceman took a deflected puck through the neutral zone to the ear in today’s game. Josi did miss some time in playing action but did return just in time for the Preds to make it 2-1.
Roman Josi Takes Puck to Ear During Game 4 of Western Conference Playoff Game
Roman Josi takes a deflected puck to the ear. pic.twitter.com/KBxBf1Is6n
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 28, 2024
Roman Josi is statistically one of the best offensive defencemen we’ve seen in a long time. The last three seasons Josi has had point totals of 96, 59, and 85. Once upon a time Josi was simply known as Shea Weber’s D-partner down in Tennessee. But no. He is perhaps the greatest Swiss-born player to ever play the sport. That is to say, his club, the Nashville Predators, are far off better with him in the lineup. His career stats in the playoffs are adding up with nearly 90 games played and 43 points.
Does This Change the Direction of the Series?
This could have been an influencing factor in the series as a result of this game’s outcome. However, it was not to be. The storyline for the series as game four heads to overtime, continues to be the Vancouver Canucks lack of execution. In contrast, maybe that will change by two late third period goals by the man capping off his hat trick, Brock Boeser. But the story is mainly in net, and it’s because of injuries, so nobody is truly at fault. Sure enough, through four games of the series, the Canucks have used three different starting goaltenders. When Thatcher Demko, who is a Vezina-worthy candidate, is unavailable, it quickly becomes a storyline. Also, Casey DeSmith came down with an injury as well today. Cue Artus Silovs. Yes, if you guessed the first Latvian goalie to earn his country a medal at the World Championships in 2023, you’d be right.
Main photo: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
