Freaky: Goalies Craig Anderson, Carey Price both lose teeth in playoff games (Video)

National Hockey League players losing teeth is a rite of passage, as veteran players can typically sport a Jack-O-Lantern smile (or have undergone copious amounts of dental surgery to fix one).

Goalies, however, aren’t typically the ones spittin’ Chiclets, as their mugs are protected behind state-of-the-art masks. But in the Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, both starting goalies have lost chunks of their chompers – beginning with Craig Anderson of the Senators in Game 1:

Anderson took a shot from Rene Bourque off the mask on Thursday night, and the impact managed to knock one of his front teeth out.

As Anderson tweeted that night: “Sometimes I stop pucks with my face. . . Because it’s the playoffs.”

Then in Game 2, it was Carey Price’s turn to have some amateur dentistry:

Price took a skate to the mask from Jarred Tinordi that chipped two teeth. From the Globe & Mail:

When he suffered the mishap, 4:40 into the second period, he picked himself up after play was stopped and placidly skated over to the bench to hand the chipped shards to a trainer at the Montreal bench.

Keep calm and Carey on, as it were. “First teeth I’ve ever lost in a game . . . it’s pretty sensitive right now,” said Price, who didn’t have the look after the game of someone unduly bothered by pain.

Hey, maybe goalies are tougher than we give them credit for. Obviously it’s time to dump the masks and go back to helmetless goalies stopping shots.

Uh … on second thought, Henrik Lundqvist’s face is a national treasure and deserves round-the-clock protection, like an original copy of the U.S. Constitution or something.

Photo by Joey Alfieri