Lightning goalie Ben Bishop loses his two front teeth but stays in the game

TORONTO – Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop made 40 saves and lost two teeth Tuesday night.

Bishop was dazed by a Peter Holland wrist shot late with 6:40 in the second period of Tampa’s 7-3 win over the Maple Leafs. The hard shot went through the legs of defenceman Andrej Sustr and hit Bishop in the mask, jarring his two front teeth — both crowns — loose.

The six-foot-seven Tampa goalie dropped his stick and slowly fell forward. When he recovered, he took off his mask and looked inside. Teammate Brian Boyle then appeared to pick his teeth up on the ice.

“I was shocked,” Bishop said after the game while sporting a Bobby Clarke gap in his teeth and whistling a little as he talked. “Knocked my two front teeth out.

“They were already crowned, so at least I already had that going for me,” he added with a gap-toothed laugh.

Still he stayed in the game.

“It wasn’t super-painful or anything like that. I was just trying to be like these guys, I guess,” he said, pointing to his teammates in the locker-room. “They lose teeth all the time.”

“It was throbbing pretty good,” he added. “And my talking’s a little different right now. Other than that I was able to just stay with it.”

Coach Jon Cooper said he initially thought his big goalie was OK.

“Then our trainer came to the bench and he opened his hand and I couldn’t believe how big Ben’s teeth actually are,” he added with a laugh.

“But gutty effort,” he added more seriously. “We talked to him and I guess the vibration knocked his teeth loose. Apparently they were fake anyway.”

Bishop wasn’t sure exactly what happened. But he said he hadn’t seen much of the shot. “It was just close your eyes.”

Captain Steven Stamkos was also impressed both by Bishop’s courage and his play.

“He made some a lot of saves and a lot of key saves … He showed why he’s one of the best tonight,” he said.

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