Pow, Right in the Kisser

James van Riemsdyk scores goal with his face, comes back in the game, scores one without his face

Hockey players are tough. You know it. I know it. In fact, unless you’re a pod person who beamed down from space yesterday, pretty much everybody knows it. Every now then, however, we get some cut-and-dry evidence to substantiate the claim, and on Thursday night Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk provided that and then some, scoring a goal with his face.

Yes, we said face.

But van Riemsdyk wasn’t done there. The face goal tied the game up late in the second period, but unfortunately for the Flyers, van Riemsdyk was shaken up and taken to the locker room for evaluation. A short while later, he reappeared on the bench, plus one jaw protector. Stepping back on the ice, the puck found its way to him at the front of the net and, well, you can guess what happened next (I mean, we literally told you in the headline).

So by our count, that’s one face goal and one stick goal for JVR, lifting the Flyers to a 3-2 win. Not bad for a night’s work. Grab some Jell-O, an ice pack, and celebrate, James. You’ve earned it.