Brayden McNabb showed incredible toughness during the Stanley Cup Finals after suffering a nasty injury. The 35-year-old revealed that he took mid-20s to maybe 30 stitches on his nose for an injury sustained in Game 2 just a couple of days ago.

One of the reporters asked McNabb to give the rough stitch count on his nose during a backstage interview at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, after Game 3 ended on Saturday.

“Probably north [of] mid-20s, maybe 30 [stitches], not sure,” he responded with a sarcastic laugh, as per the video post shared by Sportsnet on their official X account.

McNabb returned to action within 48 hours after being sent to the hospital, bloodied and in pain in Raleigh, NC, following which he had to travel to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. During Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at the Lenovo Center, the puck clipped his visor when he came in the way of an 87 mph slapshot from Carolina forward Nikolaj Ehlers.

Earlier in the same interview, another reporter questioned the Canadian defenseman regarding any doubt about him playing Game 3 on Saturday in the aftermath of the nose injury.

“At one point, when it happened. I was at the hospital, yeah, there was some doubt for sure. But waking up, felt okay, and then I knew I would have a chance,” he explained.

Notably, McNabb was wearing a full cage helmet during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final with visible sutures around his nose. The Golden Knights fans went wild when he was introduced to them ahead of the contest at T-Mobile Arena.

What was Brayden McNabb’s contribution to Vegas’s double overtime win in Game 3?

Brayden McNabb was on the ice for 35:47 minutes in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, which lasted well into double overtime when Vegas pulled it out 5-4 against Carolina. It was the second most time on the ice among all the skaters, only behind Shea Theodore (38:35 minutes).

He also led the Golden Knights in ice time in the first period with 8:57 minutes despite being a bit vulnerable to further injury, especially early on.

Most importantly, McNabb provided two assists and registered a plus-3 rating. One of his two assists was for the game-winning goal for Vegas from Theodore with 14:22 remaining in the second period of overtime. The other assist was the third goal for Vegas in the second period.

It was the second goal for Mitch Marner on his way to the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history in just 6:10 minutes.

Will Brayden McNabb continue to make key contributions to Vegas’ charge to Stanley Cup Final victory over Carolina? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Ankita Yadav