American Olympic hockey hero and Devils star Jack Hughes may have the most recognizable damaged teeth in the country, but don’t expect that to turn into his signature look.
Hughes, his brother and fellow gold medalist Quinn, and gold medal-winning women’s hockey player Hillary Knight appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Monday to continue their victory tour, which included a stop on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend.
While the three have traded their Team USA jerseys in for those of their respective NHL and PWHL teams, Hughes has remained one of the easiest hockey players to spot with his damaged front teeth now making up the smile he sports after taking a stick to the face during the win over Canada in the gold-medal game at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Fallon had some fun with the look, suggesting during the segment that “this might be your thing,” which drew a laugh from the guests and audience.
“I can promise you that this won’t be my thing,” Hughes said with a teethy smile.
“Honestly, it is funny, because since we’ve been back in the U.S. we feel the love like crazy and so much support,” he continued. “But when people are coming up for a picture, they’ll be like, ‘smile.’ … It’s funny, yeah.”
Hughes recalled the moment after he took a high stick from Canada’s Sam Bennett during the overtime win over Canada.
Hughes said that Quinn had come up to him during a TV timeout right after it happened.
“He’s like, ‘it’s not that bad, it’s only chipped,’” Hughes recalled. “That’s what he said. … And that’s with four minutes left in the game when we were serious, like trying to win this thing, and he came up and said that.”
Hughes, who recently attended the State of the Union address with his teammates, went on to score the golden goal for the United States 1:41 into overtime on Feb. 22.
The Devils’ star was photographed in a now iconic image with an American flag draped over his shoulders and a bloody mouth just moments after scoring his iconic goal.
Fallon also poked fun at Knight, who scored the tying goal in the women’s gold medal game between the United States and Canada to force overtime, for proposing to her fiancé, Olympic speed skater Brittany Bowe, while standing over a grate.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Knight joked after Fallon showed a photo of the proposal that occurred the day before the women’s gold medal game.
Bowe had been in the crowd during the appearance, and the couple went from “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to Barclays Center to watch the Unrivaled semifinals.
