Svechnikov bulldozes Shesterkin and Rangers crowd loses their minds

Moments ago in tonight's second round matchup between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, chaos broke out when Andrei Svechnikov took out the legs of Igor Shesterkin behind the net.

Shesterkin was literally launched into the air on impact, and immediately the teams came together for a long scrum. Svechnikov made almost no effort to avoid contact behind the net, and fully plowed into the legs of Shesterkin. Immediately, every Rangers player went after every Canes player on the ice, with even Shesterkin himself trying to get in on the fun.




It was an egregious contact on the goaltender from Svechnikov, so much so that it may earn a look from the NHL Department of Player Safety. He only earned a tripping call on the play, but surely if he isn't suspended, some of the larger and tougher Rangers will be hunting him down. The referees did review the penalty to be major, but settled on assessing the minor penalty.


The Rangers crowd visibly popped on impact, and didn't relent in their criticism of Svechnikov for running their goaltender. For moments after the play and during the penalty, Rangers fans were chanting ‘A****le' in the direction of Svechnikov. For the rest of this series, Svechnikov will be holding the title of public element number one in New York.