If it wasn’t clear following a seven-game playoff series last May, it sure is clear now: These two teams do not like each other.
In the dying seconds of what ended up being a tight game between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, tempers flared and penalties were dished out like candy bars on Halloween night.
As the Oilers hemmed in the Canucks in their own zone looking to score the late equalizer, Connor McDavid and Conor Garland got tangled up in the high slot. Upon returning to their feet, McDavid appeared frustrated at Garland’s attempts to keep him pinned down and laid a cross-check up high on the Canuck forward.
A scrum immediately ensued as officials tried to keep the late-game antics to a minimum. Amidst the chaos, Canuck defenceman Tyler Myers laid an equally high cross-check on Oiler defenceman Evan Bouchard, catching him in the nose area.
Both McDavid and Myers were issued match penalties on the play that were upheld upon review. Every other skater on the ice received minor penalties.
Per NHL rule No. 21, a match penalty shall be assessed on a player “who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner.”
Furthermore, the offending player is automatically suspended from further game action until the commissioner makes a ruling — in short, the match penalty will trigger an automatic hearing for both Myers and McDavid.
McDavid has been suspended once in his career when he received two-games in 2019. Myers has also been suspended once back in 2012 when he received three games for boarding.
