The Edmonton Oilers won Game 2 but suffered a tough loss on Sunday in Game 3, and they’re now down 2-1 in the second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks.
All three games have been thrillers, and all have ended in one-goal victories. But Sunday’s game was the most testy one we’ve seen in the series so far.
After the final buzzer, a controversial incident involving Connor McDavid, the Oilers’ superstar center, occurred.
For the first time in this year’s playoffs, McDavid was held off the scoresheet. He played for almost 30(!) minutes but didn’t manage to score or make an assist.
And as the final buzzer sounded, and the Oilers had lost 4-3, McDavid was frustrated. As he stood just beside the Canucks’ net, he took part in a slashing battle with Carson Soucy.
As time had expired, Soucy’s teammate Nikita Zadorov didn’t like what he saw from McDavid, and he retaliated against him with a cross-check to the back.
That led to McDavid being sent doubled-over straight into Soucy’s stick in another cross-check. McDavid was dropped by the high cross-check, but he was able to get back to his feet and, fortunately, seemed okay as he left the ice.
Soucy was the only one penalized for the post-buzzer interaction, as he was handed a two-minute minor for cross-checking.
But now, voices are being raised to suspend him for the cross-check to McDavid’s face, and fans were absolutely furious over how the league’s biggest star was treated. One of those angry voices belongs to Paul Bissonnette.
The NHL analyst and podcast host took to X to express how frustrated he was.
”McDavid got cross checked in the face and nobody really did shit. I understand he gave Soucy the chop first but that wasn’t a proper response,” Biz wrote.
But Bissonnette also slammed the Oilers for not sticking up for their captain.
”Soft team. Bottom 6 is pathetic right now. Getting outplayed. 3rd D pair getting chewed up. Canucks playing a tremendous team game and JT Miller is a dog. He’s cementing himself as a Canucks great right now. He’s a warrior. This is 100% going 7 games. Oilers are in one.”
