So for much of Sunday night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers, there were two parallel narratives — one on the ice and one on social media.
On the ice: How Vancouver lost miserably in goaltending battle, rookie Arturs Silovs was exceptionally good (and much better than his Oilers counterpart Stuart Skinner) . Silovs shot 41-for-44 from the field. He was an absolute key in Vancouver’s 4-3 win, which gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead in the NHL Western Conference semifinal series.
On social media: How officiating bias affected the Oilers, who didn’t get the calls they deserved from the officiating duo of Chris Looney and Graham Skellett.
But eventually, when the final whistle blew, the dirtiest play of the night came. Silovs made his final stop in the regular season and won the race.
Connor McDavid battles Carson Soucy in the back of the net. Suzy cross-checked McDavid, who scratched his pants. Not much happened — or until Suzy’s defensive partner Nikita Zadorov entered the fray. When Zadorov cross-checked McDavid from behind, causing his knees to buckle, Susie cross-checked him in the throat.
Carson Soucy cross-checks to catch McDavid after the final buzzer 😳 pic.twitter.com/Gf03SqgE0l
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 13, 2024
That shot definitely crossed the line.
Yes, playoff hockey is intense. Yes, teams often can’t stay in good enough shape once the final buzzer blows because it’s a best-of-seven series and once Game 3 is over, the Game 4 posture begins.
However, the Canucks will be lucky if they can make it to Game 4 with Soucy out.
A cross-check on the face, like the one he had, takes punishment to another level. Ultimately, Suzy did receive a minor penalty at the final buzzer, which would have been completely inconsequential if the NHL didn’t follow up with additional discipline.
NHL playoff hockey is certainly different than the regular season. Some players are just born for this – Zadorov is a good example. Zadorov was acquired from the Calgary Flames in a trade earlier this season and was added because of his size and willingness to play a physical game. His regular season performance was inconsistent at times. But in the playoffs, especially in the series against the Oilers, he was a formidable and formidable force.
At one point in Sunday’s game, he took a check on Evander Kane, knocking Kane into the Edmonton dugout. Not content with simply pushing Kane off the ice, Zadorov pushed twice more to make sure he stayed there. This earned him severe punishment. It ultimately didn’t cost the Canucks anything, though, as the Oilers themselves were blamed for retaliation on the bench.
The Canucks acquired Zadorov just for these playoff moments – he understands that in playoff hockey, someone needs to play the villain role for Vancouver, because if no one does, then McDavid and Leon · Draisaitl will eventually make you pay.
Zadorov was also cunning in this regard. Presumably, he understood that his surprise postgame cross-check on McDavid was enough to escape further NHL justice. So think strategically.
Susie, on the other hand, was carried away by the last response. You can’t cross-check someone at any point in time. The NHL’s player safety department has been eerily quiet so far in these playoffs, even as officiating controversies continue to intensify game after game and series after series.
The fact that McDavid was on the receiving end of a double-barreled cross-check further added fuel to the fire. Remember, less than three years ago, a popular narrative was that McDavid couldn’t get away with being punished by NHL referees – and statistically speaking, he received very few penalties given his skill level, playing time, and performance. .
The controversy came to a head in November 2021, when McDavid was second in the league in scoring but only 57th in penalties. And this was after he played the entire playoffs the year before without taking a penalty — something that was truly unimaginable given the way he played.
When McDavid finally commented on this, he was called out by John Tortorella, who at the time was working as a broadcaster and coach for ESPN. Tortorella advised him to “honestly shut up.” Stop talking about it.
McDavid seems to be getting punished more than he deserves for his off-speed abilities that are unmatched by mere mortals because he’s so good.
As time passed, the moment passed and the controversy died down.
Sometimes people think the NHL doesn’t play by the rules no Protect elite players as this may show favoritism. This is of course nonsense. Players want only one thing from referees – to be as consistent as possible from shift to shift, cycle to cycle, game to game.
In other words, skilled players and gaming stars are treated the same. But consistency must also go both ways. You can’t just ignore what’s going on here and get roughed up just because this is McDavid. What Susie did was reckless and dangerous. There will almost certainly be a pause. If not, the already-raucous Oilers-Canucks series could very well descend into real chaos.
(Photo: Paul Swanson/NHLI via Getty Images)
