TAMPA - Brad Lukowich bared his teeth and pointed to one on top and one on the bottom chipped to half the size of those around them.
He pointed to various nicks and cuts on his face while describing how each was sustained.
"I'm used to getting pretty banged up," the Lightning defenseman said. "It's a lot of games in a short span of time so every player goes through it. That's what makes hockey players such a unique species because of the pain and injury they play through.
"You put 10 guys in a room and you know which ones are hockey players by their faces. You accept it when you're young and pray for the best."
Considering how many times Lukowich has been bruised and bloodied since being acquired by Tampa Bay, it's tough to tell whether his prayers are being answered or ignored.
There is no ignoring Lukowich. Good result or bad, the Cranbrook, British Columbia, native gives everything he has. If he takes a stick to the face in the process, well, that's the price of doing business.
"It's an indicator of how he's playing," coach John Tortorella said. "Some of it is bad luck but still being in the areas to play. Maybe if some other guys got bruised up a little bit, they would be going in the right areas to play."
Lukowich, 27, is still a work in progress.
He loves open-ice hitting and jumping into the offense. He is plus-2 with two goals, one more than last season when he had career highs of 14 assists and 15 points.
It is defensively, though, where Lukowich has made the most progress. Acquired in June 2002 for a second-round draft pick, he is the first to admit his difficulty grasping Tampa Bay's system after five seasons with the Stars, whom the Lightning faces tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum.
There still is an ebb and flow, but the latter is much more prevalent.
Lukowich was one of the Lightning's best players in Tuesday's 3-0 loss to the Maple Leafs, a game notable for an intense defensive effort that limited Toronto, the league's hottest team, to 21 shots and, by Tampa Bay's count, six scoring chances.
He was solid in the neutral zone and showed he can transition the offense with one pass. In his past three games he has 12 shots.
The gaps in his game come down to nuance.
"What we're trying to teach Brad is we want him to play with the juice he brings," Tortorella said. "He's a physical guy, but there are situations in a game when you have to make a read and positioning comes into play. We're trying to have him balance that and not running all over the place and taking himself out of plays."
"It's coming and it's getting better," Lukowich said. "I'm really trying to pay attention in the meetings and watching other players to see what I would do in situations and see where the differences are.
"It's taken a lot longer than I thought it would. But the organization pushes me, and every day I just try to elevate my level; maybe take a little bit more of a bite out of it."
While leaving pieces of himself around the rink.
Lukowich missed the final six games of the 2002-03 regular season after a stick fractured an orbital bone. He so severely broke a finger during the playoffs, he said it required eight screws to stabilize.
Against the Hurricanes this season, a stick half-sized a lower tooth and opened a six-stitch gash in his chin. Two games later against the Blues, a stick cut Lukowich's right eyebrow, and a stick to the mouth took half an upper tooth.
"And I got one in the eye somewhere recently," he said, trying to remember the details.
Lukowich said he tried to no avail during summer workouts to get used to wearing a visor, and shying away from contact is not an option.
"When you start to back off or play timid," he said, "that's when you get hurt."
