Pavelski’s teammates look for his teeth in the shovelled up snow during TV break

The Vegas Golden Knights came out flat and the San Jose Sharks seemed unstopped in a 5-2 victory Wednesday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Joe Pavelski took a puck off his chin to score the opening goal after he deflected the powerful shot from his teammate Brent Burns with his face. It looks painful as some of his teeth went flying in the air and landed back on the ice as the Sharks players celebrated the opening tally. 

Pavelski was in his usual spot in front of the opponent's crease and it cost him a few teeth. 

However, the captain can always count on his teammates - no matter what. The veteran forward retired to the dressing room to get some repairs as the game went on, however, his teammates did not forget about his teeth and went looking for them in the shovelled up snow during TV break. 

Now that's gross, but also very sweet to want to help your captain, who took one for the team. 

Pavelski returned to the ice for the remainder of the contest with a special cage around his chin. After the game, we could see that his chin and bottom lip had swelled over, and blood was visible on his bottom row of teeth.

"I feel all right," said Pavelski after the game. "But enough with the dental questions."

"I saw Burnsy had it. Sometimes, there's a shot. Sometimes, there's not. It kinda looked like he was trying to release it, and I didn't even see it come off his stick," he said.

Pavelski could admit this was the most painful goal he ever scored. 

"Yeah, I suppose," he said. 

The victory however did feel good.