Hughes Loses Teeth, Returns With Face Shield and Scores as Devils Thump Stars

Jack Hughes produced one of the toughest nights of his career on Tuesday, losing teeth to a high stick and still returning to score as the New Jersey Devils thumped the Dallas Stars 5-1. The Devils centre was struck in the face by the stick of Stars forward Justin Hryckowian in the first period, sending him to the ice before he appeared to spit out several teeth and headed to the dressing room, with the referee even picking up a loose tooth from the ice.

Shortly afterwards, Hughes was back — this time wearing a protective face shield — and he capped the night by scoring the final goal of the game. It was a familiar kind of misfortune for the American star, who also lost teeth after taking a stick to the mouth before winning Olympic gold for the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, where he scored the overtime winner against Canada in the final.

There was a neat symmetry in the Dallas game too: Connor Hellebuyck was in net for the Devils, making his debut for the club after arriving from the Winnipeg Jets in an October 23 blockbuster trade. Hellebuyck joked afterwards that every time the pair play together, Hughes loses a tooth, before praising a performance that was all over the ice. For New Jersey, it was a convincing win; for Hughes, another story of pain shrugged off in pursuit of a goal.