Thursday’s matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames started to get chippy in the second period, with the teams exchanging boarding penalties.
Both incidents played out in nearly identical situations.
Less than a minute into the middle frame, Canucks forward Elias Pettersson was hit awkwardly into the boards by Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar.
Initially assessed a major penalty, the play was reviewed and downgraded to a two-minute minor for boarding.
Pettersson went to the Canucks’ locker room but returned to the bench shortly after.
Four minutes later, another boarding call was made — this time against Canucks defenceman Elias Pettersson, who hit Flames forward Connor Zary.
Perhaps it was retaliation for Weegar’s earlier hit on his teammate, or perhaps payback for the elbow Zary delivered to Pettersson last March.
The second boarding call was also reviewed and downgraded from a five-minute major to a two-minute minor.
Zary left the game briefly but returned soon after.
Even though they received the same punishment, the main difference between the hits appeared to be the point of contact: Zary’s hit on forward Pettersson struck the arm/shoulder, while defenceman Pettersson’s hit on Zary landed on the numbers.
During intermission on the Sportsnet broadcast, Sam Cosentino said he saw them as two different hits, adding, “The one on Zary probably deserved more.” Caroline Cameron agreed, saying, “I was surprised it was only two.”
