Lightning Goalie Ben Bishop Loses Front Teeth After Shot To Mask In 7-3 Win Over Maple Leafs

Losing teeth is something that dozens of hockey players have gone through, but most of these incidents don’t occur during actual games. Goalkeepers especially seem relatively safer from this, since they are the only ones to wear full face masks.

Lightning Goalie Ben Bishop Loses Front Teeth After Shot To Mask In 7-3 Win Over Maple Leafs

Nevertheless, Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop came away from Tuesday night’s 7-3 road victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs without his two front teeth, thanks to a hard shot from Toronto’s Peter Holland.

It was immediately clear that Holland’s shot stunned Bishop momentarily, thus play was halted so trainers could attend to the goalie. The announcers appeared slightly confused as to why some of Bishop’s teammates rushed over to him and were looking around the ice near the crease, but the reason became clear once the goalie opened his mouth.

Bishoped remained in the game and played the rest of it with the huge gap in his mouth.

“It wasn’t really super painful or anything like that,” Bishop said after the game, via NHL.com. “These guys in front of me lose teeth all the time, so I guess I just wanted to be like them.”

Bishop made 40 saves in his third victory of the season.

Steven Stamkos scored two goals and had two assists for Tampa Bay in the win. It was the forward’s first game against the Maple Leafs since he signed an eight-year contract with the Lightning days before he was to become an unrestricted free agent.

“I think this year, what has helped me is coming into the rink with no distractions and a clear mind,” Stamkos said. “It all helps in having fun and feeling confident.”

Stamkos opened scoring at 1:19 of the first period. Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr intercepted a clearing attempt from Toronto center Auston Matthews and found Stamkos, who got a partial breakaway to deke past goalie Frederik Andersen.

Sustr found Stamkos again for his second goal at 17:12 of the first period and a 3-0 lead. Sustr backhanded a pass from the boards and Stamkos fired a long-range shot past Andersen.

Stamkos assisted on Victor Hedman’s goal at 7:23 of the second to make it 4-0, and on Nikita Kucherov’s goal at 6:45 of the third that made it 5-1. The four points tied Stamkos’ NHL career high.

Vladislav Namestnikov and Jonathan Drouin scored third-period goals for the Lightning after the Leafs pulled within 5-3.

William Nylander, James van Riemsdyk and Matthews scored for Toronto. Matthews leads the league with 10 points and is tied for the league with six goals, alongside the Chicago Blackhawks’ Richard Panik.

Nylander’s goal came on the power play at 19:03 of the second period and made it 4-1. Nazem Kadri made a cross-ice pass to Nylander, who shot it into an open net.

Andersen made 17 saves.

The Lightning will next visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, while the Leafs will host the Florida Panthers that same day.

PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 13: Ben Bishop #30 of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a glove save during the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 13, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)