Last night's game between the Oilers and Canucks ended in a brutal scrum that saw McDavid get a tag-team attack from Nikita Zadorov and Carson Soucy. Now, the NHL is announcing supplemental discipline for both players.
After the final buzzer, Nikita Zadorov went at McDavid first with a cross check to the back, and while he was falling, Soucy caught him viciously in the face. For this play, Zadorov has been fined $5,000, and Carson Soucy will be getting a phone hearing from player safety, and was suspended for only one game.
Spicy will have his hearing from the NHL today and will be suspended. It was an absolutely vicious play from both Canucks defenders, but especially Soucy. A suspension is the right call from the NHL, but it maybe should have been more severe. In a similar play earlier this season, Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly was suspended for 5 games. As Elliotte Friedman says, it's simply not a hockey play.
The Canucks still found a way to beat out the Oilers on home ice in game three, taking a threatening 2-1 series lead. What's more frightening for the Oilers is that the Canucks have skated Thatcher Demko to return near game 5 or 6. While Stuart Skinner is obviously struggling too, that lob-sided of a goalie matchup may make the latter part of this series very difficult for the Oilers. Heading into game 4, the Oilers will have a tough decision to make on which goalie will start.
McDavid didn't speak to the media after the game, but thankfully Knoblauch gave no indication he sustained any significant injury on the play. Hopefully McDavid really is still healthy after that brutal collision, because the Oilers are going to need him at full force to come back and win this series.
