ARLINGTON, VA — Alex Ovechkin’s signature tooth gap just got bigger.
After taking a high stick to the face against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, Ovechkin sported a broken front incisor at Sunday’s practice.
Alongside the unrequested dental work, the high stick also left Ovechkin with visible cuts to his lower lip.
The injury came early in the third period on Saturday, with Chicago defenseman Louis Crevier jabbing Ovechkin in the mouth. Much to Ovechkin’s bloody chagrin, there was no penalty called on the play.
Ovechkin’s gap-toothed grin has been an iconic part of his persona for close to two decades, seen on everything from bobbleheads to cereal and even a Washingtonian magazine cover about finding a good dentist.
In fact, Ovechkin’s latest dental injury came just two days before an all-arena giveaway inspired by his missing tooth. All fans in attendance for Monday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks will receive an Ovechkin floss holder, with the floss coming out through the gap in his smile.
Ovechkin was a big fan of the collectible when he first saw it in October, declaring it a “sexy man” with “unbelievable” lettuce.
He’s sported the gap since October 5, 2007, when he took another high stick to the face in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers. He received 14 stitches after Washington’s medical staff removed the remainder of the tooth, and later told the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg he liked how he looked without it.
“It makes me look hot,” Ovechkin said then. “Girls like it. Like a warrior.”
But after his run-in with Crevier on Saturday, the floss holders may already be out of date. Head coach Spencer Carbery said Sunday that he wasn’t sure if Ovechkin planned to keep the wider gap.
“I haven’t asked him that,” Carbery said. “And I don’t even know if it was — because a lot of times these chips are fake (teeth), they get chipped and then replaced, and that. So I don’t know if it was his real one. I’ll have to find that out.”
Digging through the archives reveals that Ovechkin’s now-busted tooth was fake, first broken during the Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup run. A RMNB investigation suggests it likely chipped during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. Ovechkin eventually repaired the broken incisor that fall, but opted to keep his longtime gap in front.
Clearly, given what happened last time Ovechkin broke that tooth, Saturday’s injury must be a good omen.
