The Maple Leafs almost lost Mitch Marner to an equipment malfunction. A dangerous, yet slightly funny, malfunction.
Marner was chasing down Predators defenseman P.K. Subban behind the net, but was stopped because his own stick got stuck in the back of Nashville’s net.
The stick of Marner wedged itself in the netting and got stuck on the pole in the back of the net, causing the Maple Leafs forward to clothesline himself out of the play.
Here’s a better look at the tricky stick-work involved to make this happen.
We almost just lost Mitch Marner forever. pic.twitter.com/YwOD7N0bZa
— Wendel Clarkson (@MuchTruculence) March 31, 2017
Incredibly, in all my years of watching hockey I’ve never seen a player almost impale himself on his own stick that was stuck in the netting.
At least Marner was able to get his stick back, thanks to Pekka Rinne.