TMZSports.com
Ice hockey star Jack Hughes turned the ice red before he turned it gold — flashing a blood-soaked, tooth-jacked grin after burying Team USA’s crowning goal … but one top doc says that smile might need a whole lot more than a victory lap to recover!
Dr. Jason Auerbach — board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon for the New Jersey Devils — broke it down for us on “TMZ Live” Monday, telling us the 24-year-old looks like he fractured his left front tooth, possibly shoved another out of place, and may have even rattled his upper jaw. Ouch.
Watch the clip — the doc goes full dental dictionary on us, spelling out how Hughes is probably staring down serious restorative work, starting with a quick temporary fix while swelling peaks in the first 48 hours.
As for the full smile comeback? Could take weeks — longer if surgery’s in play. For the full bite-by-bite breakdown, hear it straight from Dr. Auerbach.
Meanwhile, Jack shrugged the injury off to reporters Monday … saying in hockey, losing a tooth happens. He did acknowledge he was disappointed when he felt a tooth was missing, but no panic here. He says he’ll get it fixed — because that gold-medal grin is coming back.
ICYMI — Hughes took a stick to the mouth from Sam Bennett in the third period of the men’s hockey final at the Milan Cortina Games on Sunday … then casually went on to score the gold-medal goal. Talk about biting back!
