It turns out Zdeno Chara's jaw was very much broken in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Boston Bruins defenseman confirmed to reporters Friday he suffered "multiple fractures" after taking a puck to the face in Game 4 against the St. Louis Blues. He's expected to need over a month to recover and has been on a mostly liquid diet, per NBC Sports Boston's Matt Castle and The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa.
Zdeno Chara confirms he had multiple fractures in his jaw. Held together by two metal plates. Recovery expected to be 5-6 weeks. — Matt Castle (@Matt_Castle22) June 14, 2019
Zdeno Chara has several plates in his jaw and wiring in his mouth. Was mostly on a liquid diet. — Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) June 14, 2019
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CBS Sports' Pete Blackburn also reported Friday that Chara's jaw was separated in two parts and needed to be held together by pins.
Sat on this but this is what I heard about Chara's jaw:
-Broken in 2 places, left and right side of his face
-Right side was separated into 2 parts
-Pins placed in his jaw https://t.co/ygp57zKaDl — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 14, 2019
The extent of Chara's injury makes it all the more incredible that he returned for Game 5 in Boston despite not being able to speak earlier in the day.
The Bruins captain logged 16 minutes of ice time in Game 5, scored a goal in Game 6 and tallied two hits and a blocked shot in Boston's Game 7 loss to the Blues.
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Chara apparently was also dealing with a lower body injury suffered during the final game of the Eastern Conference Final.
Zdeno Chara also will have an MRI for a nagging lower body injury that sidelined him for Game 4 of ECF vs. Carolina. — Boston.com Bruins News (@BDCBruins) June 14, 2019
The 42-year-old's season ended in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday night, but his ability to play through excruciating injury will be the stuff of legends.
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