Darnell Nurse’s smile took a serious hit on Thursday night.
The Edmonton Oilers blue-liner was caught with a high stick from St. Louis Blues forward Scottie Upshall in the Oil’s 3-2 victory, which severely damaged his upper teeth. After the contest, Nurse acknowledged the play and admitted he felt like a combination of Dumb & Dumber’s Lloyd Christmas and teammate Zack Kassian.
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Even St. Louis Blues play-by-play voice John Kelly recognized the severity of the play as it happened.
Getting your teeth mangled is a part of the game, and a potential issue players must be weary of during their time in the league. Earlier this season, New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey suffered a vicious cut after Kassian (ironically enough) accidentally kicked him in the face. The injury was so severe that Vesey ended up having a tooth lodged into his bottom lip.
Nurse is going to require a seriously long trip to the dentist, but at least he can say he has one of the NHL’s best smiles in the meantime. The 22-year-old now ranks near the top with defencemen Brent Burns and Dustin Byfuglien.
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With Christmas just around the corner, all Nurse can really hope for is a new set of teeth.
(H/T Darnell Nurse)
