Sometimes, it feels kind of arbitrary that drawing blood serves as the difference between a single and double-minor for high-sticking. When you lose teeth (fake or not) from such an infraction, though? That seems pretty fair.
In a striking moment between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, an Alex Biega stick caught James Neal up high, and sent his teeth flying. Actually, it sounds like they were fake teeth, so there’s the remote possibility that a different wayward stick got his real ones.
(Probably just a fist, though.)
The Flames did, indeed, receive four minutes of power-play time for that high-sticking infraction, but Calgary was unable to make Biega pay for such amateur (albeit efficient) dentistry.
This continues a tough first season for Neal in Calgary, as he came into this contest with only five goals and 14 points in 52 games. The jokes? They’ve been pretty good.
James Neal lost more teeth tonight than he's scored goals in 2019.
— Mike Pfeil (@mikeFAIL) February 10, 2019
And, yes, people have given it sort of a “Zapruder” treatment to see individual chicklets.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.