Caps forward Eric Belanger lost seven teeth during Friday’s Game 5 loss to Montreal when the stick of former teammate Marc-Andre Bergeon raked across his mouth in the first period. The veteran center returned to the game, but was absent during a stretch bridging the second and third periods while having the roots of his smashed teeth trimmed by team dentist Dr. Thomas Lenz. Belanger underwent a full root canal on Saturday and Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said he hopes he will play Monday against Montreal.
“I felt so bad for [Belanger]. He’s a warrior,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “Just the fact that he came back. I don’t know if you guys have every lost any teeth. And having a root canal done in between periods and still come back to play. The courage it takes to do that is phenomenal. That’s what you see in the playoffs. You see [Philadelphia Flyers forward] Ian Laperriere’s face almost mangled by blocking a shot. Our guy Eric doing that should be an inspiration on what this means to people in the playoffs.”
Boudreau was unhappy that a penalty wasn’t called on the play because Belanger was injured after Bergeron passed the puck – something Boudreau didn’t see as a natural follow through that a player takes after any shot. Belanger was hurt at 12:38 of the first period and was back on the ice less than four minutes later. He then took six shifts in the second period – the last one ending at 15:07. He returned to the ice exactly three minutes into the third period after Lenz finished his work.
