It’s a good thing the New York Rangers have already taken their team pictures this year because Barclay Goodrow is going to have a weird looking smile for a while.
During the first period of the Rangers game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, Goodrow raced to chase down the puck. But he needn’t have bothered because the puck found him.
Barclay Goodrow takes a puck to the face and leaves a tooth behind on the ice pic.twitter.com/wOAunXnog0
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) December 6, 2023
Goodrow immediately crumpled to the ice and slid for a few feet before beginning a search for his missing tooth. Goodrow left the game to be evaluated and did not return.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette addressed the incident after the game.
“Listen, that happens,” Laviolette told reporters. “Certainly, we don’t like to see that. He’s an important part of our team for a lot of different reasons.”
The coach is right. It’s hard to know the actual numbers, but a substantial percentage of NHL players are walking around with mouths full of teeth that may or may not be real. This is almost assuredly not the first time Goodrow has dealt with this injury. But man, it is tough to see.
Still, Goodrow is an NHL vet and two-time Stanley Cup winner. He’ll be back like nothing ever happened. And he’ll have some extra time to recover because the Rangers don’t play again until Saturday.