Florida Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant was kicked out of Saturday night’s game against the Nashville Predators.
It was a tough night for the Panthers. They were trailing 5-0. They lost center Quinton Howden to injury after a questionable – and unpenalized – hit from Nashville’s Anthony Bitetto.
https://twitter.com/Cats0ntheprowl/status/698747278161506304/video/1
With less than three minutes to go in the third period, Panthers forward Brandon Pirri suffered a leg injury after being shoved from behind into the board by Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis. As Pirri was helped off the ice, Gallant decided he’d had enough. He unloaded on referees Wes McCauley and Chris Lee.
The officials sent him packing, hitting him with an Abuse of Officials penalty and tossing him from the game.
It’s been a frustrating time for the Panthers. They’ve seen three of their players – Ekblad, Barkov, and now Howden – injured on hits that went unpenalized during the game. (Edmonton’s Matt Hendricks was later suspended three games for his hit on Ekblad.)
Of couse, McCauley’s all too familiar with drawing the ire of officials. Just last week, he was the target of Avs’ coach Patrick Roy.
