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You know Patrik Laine is serious about winning a beard-growing contest with his cousin after he went to great lengths to save the tangled patch of hair on his chin Sunday night.

The Winnipeg Jets sniper was clipped with a Roman Josi high stick — no penalty was called — and suffered a gash on the chin that required stitches.

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His first thought when he went to the medical room was: Save the beard.

“I let them know right away that I’m gonna keep it and don’t touch it,” Laine said Tuesday as the Jets prepared to face off against the Boston Bruins at Bell MTS Place.

“It was pretty much what they had to work with.”

The 19-year-old Laine, who is second in the NHL with 43 goals this season, bet his cousin Kimmo Laine at the beginning of the regular season that he could grow a better beard.

The beard has been hotly debated on the Internet — described as everything from a “wispy bird’s nest” to “the source of all his power.”

Either way, Laine wasn’t about to give it up after all his hard work. He was happy the medical staff was able to come through for him.

“I didn’t stitch it up so I have no idea how they did that,” he said. “But they are professionals and they did great work with it so they were able to save my beard.

“It was fantastic work.”