The tooth hurts for Vesey’s lower lip

As Rangers coach Alain Vigneault spoke after his team’s 4-2 victory over the Oilers on Saturday afternoon at the Garden, Jimmy Vesey still had some of his bottom teeth embedded in his lower lip. Mind you, he had played all of the third period like that.

“Hockey will be hockey, eh?” Vigneault said.

The cringe-worthy moment happened with just over three minutes gone by in the second period, when Vesey got tied up with Edmonton forward Zack Kassian. As the two fell, Kassian’s foot came up and the toe of his skate smashed Vesey in the mouth. It could have been a lot worse if it had been the skate blade.

Vesey went off to the dressing room with blood pouring out of his face, and didn’t play the remainder of the second period. But just before they were going to drop the puck to start the third, he came out of the room with a full shield on, the same “fishbowl” he wore through four years at Harvard. Vesey finished with 11:02 of ice time, 5:02 in the third period.

“He’s got a couple teeth in his lip,” Vigneault said, “so we’ll find a way to take them out.”

Forward Paul Carey was a healthy scratch as Boo Nieves returned after a three-game absence because of a stomach bug. Nieves played a team-low 7:32.

Defenseman Brendan Smith was a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game and seventh overall.

Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot got his third career start against the Rangers and remained winless against his former team, who traded him from Broadway to Edmonton in the summer of 2015. Talbot has now given up 10 goals on 90 shots, good for a 3.39 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage.