Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid protects the puck from Vancouver Canucks defensemen Carson Soucy during the third period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on May 12.Perry Nelson/Reuters
Things are getting ugly in the Oilers-Canucks playoff series.
Seconds after Sunday’s night’s contest ended, Edmonton’s star centre Connor McDavid whacked Vancouver defenceman Carson Soucy on the right side of his leg. That precipitated McDavid getting cross-checked in the lower back by Nikita Zadorov and then cross-checked in the chops by Soucy, a shot that snapped McDavid’s head back.
Soucy was penalized postgame and on Monday received a one-game suspension from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. For his part Zadorov received a US$5,000 fine.
After his team’s practice on Monday, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet called the incident “unfortunate” and said that Soucy meant to hit McDavid in the chest. Soucy, who practised with the team, said he did not intend to hit McDavid up high and apologized to him.
“It was just an unfortunate incident,” Soucy said. “I think we can just leave it at that. It looks bad and probably felt bad. Emotions run high in those scrums.”
Edmonton trails in the second-round series 2-1 after Sunday’s 4-3 defeat. The incident occurred behind Vancouver’s net immediately after the final buzzer. The Oilers had pulled their goalie and were pressing hard to get the tying goal when time expired.
“It’s unfortunate that Connor got hit from behind by Zadorov and then what happened with Soucy,” Tocchet said. “His intent was probably to hit him in the chest.”
All three games have been decided by one goal and there have been a number of hard hits exchanged. Earlier on Sunday, Zadorov had knocked Evander Kane head over heels into Edmonton’s bench.
“There is a lot at stake here,” Tocchet said. “There is a lot of passion out there and there are a lot of different things going on. It’s heated. That’s what makes for good playoff hockey.”
Game 4 will take place at Rogers Place on Tuesday with the Canucks in a position to take control of the series. Game 5 is in Vancouver on Thursday.
McDavid, who is being targeted by Vancouver as the league’s most dangerous offensive player, was cautious when he addressed the media before Soucy’s suspension was announced.
“I don’t want to get into it too much,” he said as he stood in the middle of the Oilers dressing room. “We are still waiting on decisions so I am not going to comment on it. It’s just part of a heated series.”
His coach, Kris Knoblauch, saw it differently.
“I don’t think it is something that just happened,” he said. “I have full confidence that the NHL is looking at that and will address it appropriately.”
McDavid was held without a point for the first time in three games, largely because of superb defensive work on the part of J.T. Miller. While he is being roughed up, he is not without sin. He got away with a high stick in Game 2 that struck Vancouver defenceman Quinn Hughes and bloodied his cheek.
The Oilers dominated play during much of Sunday’s meeting. They had 87 shots of which 45 were on the net. The Canucks had just 33 in all and 18 on the net. Edmonton was judged to have registered 38 scoring chances to Vancouver’s 17.
The difference in the game – and in the series so far – has been better goaltending. Arturs Silovs, who had played only nine NHL games before the playoffs, had 42 saves in the Game 3 victory. He is the third goalie the Canucks have used this postseason.
“He just looks so calm and poised,” Hughes said Sunday night. “I honestly can’t say enough about what he has done for us.”
The Oilers’ Stuart Skinner was yanked after he allowed four goals on 15 shots in 40 minutes and has now given up 12 in three games. He has an .830 save percentage in the series.
He has been so shaky that Knoblauch has left the door open to possibly replacing him in Game 4 with backup Calvin Pickard. Skinner was 26-16-5 during the regular season with a .905 save percentage. Pickard was 12-7-1 with a .909 save percentage.
Skinner stood in front of his dressing stall on Monday and apologized for not being available after the loss in Game 3.
“Last night I kind of think the emotions caught up with me and it was tough mentally,” Skinner said. “You never want to get pulled from a game and feel like you let your team down. I have got some work to do here to get back at it and learn from the mistakes I have been making.”
Knoblauch said he would announce who the Game 4 starter is on Tuesday morning.
“Stuart has bounced back very well,” Knoblauch said. “Throughout the season there have been games where he hasn’t played well and then responded. We know he can play better than last night.
“We’ve got two great goalies. I have been very happy with them. We have a big decision to make but I think the guy that we choose can get the job done.”