Jack Hughes spat a tooth onto the ice Tuesday night in Dallas after taking a high stick, and the Devils star still got right back up.
He went down on the play, spat the tooth out, then picked himself up and headed for the bench.
Then came the best part. The referee went over, scooped up the tooth and brought it back to its owner.
Hockey players have a reputation for being tougher than everyone else. This was the receipt.
No theatrics. Just a tooth on the ice and a guy getting back to his feet.
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Hughes isn't a fourth-liner paid to do the dirty work. He's an $8,000,000 star, and he still didn't make a production out of it.
Sheldon Keefe's Devils head to Colorado for a back-to-back test
The 25-year-old has 12 points through 11 games this season.
Two of his three goals have been game-winners.
New Jersey came into the night riding a three-game win streak, sitting third in the Metropolitan Division.
The road has been tougher. The Devils were 1-2-0 away from home before puck drop in Dallas.
They've outscored opponents 36-32 overall, a thin margin that leaves little room for losing their best player.
Losing a tooth and heading straight back to the bench is like a carpenter smashing his thumb and finishing the shelf anyway.
And the referee deserves a little love too. That's the kind of small human moment the league could use a lot more of.
Sunny Mehta has a roster built around Hughes, and nights like this show why the room follows him.
The bigger concern is what comes next. The Devils play in Colorado on Wednesday, the second half of a back-to-back.
Does a missing tooth change anything for Keefe's top forward? Not if you watched the way he got back up.
The dentist can wait until the trip is over. The Avalanche won't.
Is Jack Hughes tougher than people give him credit for?
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