There's a strong history when it comes to Penguins coaches getting struck by pucks on the bench.
In Game 4 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round, then-Penguins head coach Eddie Johnston took a Sergei Zubov clearing attempt to the head late in overtime. He refused treatment during the game, staying on the bench with a towel held to his bleeding head until Petr Nedved scored the game-winner in the fourth frame of overtime.
It was only after the game that he finally accepted treatment for the wound, which ended up requiring 17 stitches.
"That was probably one of the highlights of my coaching career," Johnston told the Penguins' team website in 2014.
“When you’re coaching, you don’t abandon your players,” Johnston added. “When you get that far in overtime, all you’ve got to do is put a little patch on the top of your head and the trainers just put a little Band-Aid on there."
Mike Sullivan getting stuck in the head by a Sabres clearing attempt in Tuesday's preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres (or more appropriately, the Rochester Americans) doesn't quite have the same staying power as a story, but it'll be an interesting memory to look back on nonetheless.
"There aren't too many tougher than EJ," Sullivan noted afterward.
The Penguins were trailing, 3-1 in the third period when Sullivan was hit in the forehead with a clearing attempt that was deflected into the bench. A trainer brought a towel to hold to Sullivan's head, and it was quickly covered in blood. He went down the Penguins' tunnel to the locker room:
Poor Mike Sullivan took a puck to the face on the bench. #Penguins pic.twitter.com/RR00wrb2Dd
— Christine Gosselin (@T1DChristine) October 6, 2021
With Sullivan in the locker room, Todd Reirden took over behind the bench. Drew O'Connor scored his second goal of the game to bring the Penguins back within one goal.
Sullivan returned to the bench shortly after, with a visible gash on his forehead. He remained on the bench for the remainder of the third period, overtime, and nine-round shootout win.
Sullivan was asked what he remembered of the moment after the game.
"It was a fast puck," he said. "And I just couldn't move quick enough. I caught it out of the corner of my eye, at the last minute just reacted, but I couldn't move quick enough. Wrong place at the wrong time."
Sullivan said he got several stitches -- he wasn't sure how many, exactly -- when he was in the locker room.
The players took notice of Sullivan's resiliency.
"He's a big boy, he can take it," Kris Letang joked afterward. "He's been in the league for a while."
