MILAN — It’s a photo that will go down in the history of American hockey. Jack Hughes, moments after scoring the golden goal against Canada in Milan, with the American flag draped around his shoulders, his right fist in the air, his hair sweaty and his face bloody.
He has never looked so beautiful.
“Who cares at this point?” » said Matt Boldy. “To be honest, I think more people look at his medal than his teeth.”
Hughes was in the middle of it all as the Americans win 2-1 in overtime reached its peak. The New Jersey Devils center earned a huge four-minute power play when Canadian Sam Bennett knocked out at least three teeth with a stick high in his mouth. Later, during the power play, Hughes threw his own high stick to Bo Horvat who canceled out the rest of the power play. Then, on the winning goal, Hughes won two battles with the puck in his own end before racing down the ice and burying Zach Werenski’s pass to score the biggest goal of his life.
But it was her broken smile that got all the attention.
“My first thought was to take the penalty,” Hughes said. “Actually, my first thought (was) I looked on the ice and I saw my teeth.”
It’s reminiscent of Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith eating a Patrick Marleau slap shot in the 2010 Western Conference Finals. Keith lost seven teeth and missed just seven minutes of play while undergoing emergency repairs, saying after the game, “We’re way out of mind.”
Hughes didn’t miss a single shift. Teeth are not considered very important for hockey players.
“It’s pretty easy (to move on),” Vincent Trocheck said. “As an NHL player, you lose a lot of teeth. They get straighter the more you lose them.”
People will remember the smile, but they won’t forget the goal. Hughes began the tournament as the fourth line for Team USA, having scored just one goal in his last 18 NHL games with the Devils following his return from hand injury suffered in a Chicago steakhouse.
He had four goals and three assists for Milan, with his last shot being the most important of all.
“He’s a damn player,” said his big brother Quinn Hughes. “He’s always been a player. Just mentally tough, he’s been through a lot, he loves the game. American hero.”
