Something was in the water Thursday night in the NHL as officials around the league were kept incredibly busy by multiple teams. Dirty hits and ejections and fights! Oh my!
Let’s take a trip through some of the chaos that went down on the ice.
Tampa Bay-Toronto 116 penalty minute madness
The Lightning and Leafs were the true leaders when it came to mayhem on the night. 23 minor penalties were called as well as six different misconducts doled out. It all started with Wayne Simmonds and Pat Maroon going at it on their respective benches.
That interaction eventually led to this.
Simmonds would later full-on leap into a very high hit on defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
The dirty hit may have been retribution for this action from Sergachev very early in the game on Leafs forward Michael Bunting.
Shoutout to the TSN panel bringing up the stupidity of this punch from Sergachev on Bunting pic.twitter.com/qVmMNcGk04
— alberto (@twistedleafs) April 22, 2022
Kyle Clifford, who received a match penalty in the game donked Corey Perry on the head with his stick.
Clifford bopped Perry on the head with his stick pic.twitter.com/NDvIdwsfdk
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 22, 2022
Nikita Kucherov added his own bit of controversy with a potential, purposeful kick on Mitch Marner.
Did Nikita Kucherov kick Mitch Marner on purpose? 🤔
Mitch watches the replay and thinks so. #Leafs #Lightning pic.twitter.com/DG4slI4zpi
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) April 22, 2022
Finally, Cal Foote threw a reverse elbow at Alex Kerfoot that sparked a center-ice melee within the final minute of regulation.
Here is how that all turned out on the official scoresheet.
Canadiens score off of absolutely blatant hand pass
As you can see, Brendan Gallagher clearly throws the puck back into the slot with his hand before it is slammed into the net. The goal was allowed to stand after the on-ice officials incorrectly told the Flyers that they could not challenge a missed stoppage of play.
Goaltender interference bedlam in Florida
Michael Rasmussen of the Detroit Red Wings hit Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky as the Russian netminder went to play the puck behind the net. This enraged Radko Gudas and the rest is history.
Also coming from this game was Oskar Sundqvist being given a rare five-minute major and game misconduct for a slash.
#LGRW forward Oskar Sundqvist ejected (5 minute major and a game misconduct) for two-handed slash on #FlaPanthers defender Lucas Carlsson pic.twitter.com/3i7bfNlivc
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) April 22, 2022
Blood drawn in Minnesota
Kirill Kaprizov caught poor Brad Richardson with a brutal, slicing high-stick that cut the Canucks forward wide open.
yikes. right off the draw Kaprizov high-sticks Richardson and he is leaking all over the ice. brutal. pic.twitter.com/cvWnH4FPEz
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) April 22, 2022
Kevin Fiala got away with this slick, dangerous little trip on goaltender Thatcher Demko.
Not cool, Kevin. 😕
🎥: Sportsnet#Canucks #mnwild pic.twitter.com/ccyr5ZSnyH
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) April 22, 2022
That’s finally it. What do you think was the worst of the worst and who should be getting a call from the Department of Player Safety?
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