Saturday night’s tilt between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks resulted in two suspensions: three games for the Oilers’ Connor McDavid and three for Vancouver’s Tyler Myers. Both incidents came with three seconds remaining in the game; thirty-two of the game’s 42 penalty minutes came during that stoppage in play.

 

 

Oilers’ Connor McDavid Cross-Checks Conor Garland

The Edmonton captain got tangled up with Garland in the closing seconds, with the Oilers trailing by a goal. Garland wrapped his feet around McDavid’s leg, preventing him from rejoining the play. McDavid responded with a gloved punch. No penalties were called. As the two got back to their feet, Garland wrapped his arm around McDavid, further restraining him — again, without a call. This time, McDavid returned serve with a cross-check to Garland’s face, catching him in the visor. 

McDavid was given a match penalty for cross-checking.

Oilers winger Corey Perry defended his captain for taking the law into his own hands. 

“It’s frustrating to watch when you’re on his team because you see the abuse he takes. Anybody else in the league that stuff happens to, it’s a penalty. But because he has the puck so much, they don’t want to call a penalty every time,” said Perry. “Why aren’t we protecting the superstars? Why aren’t we? Every other league does it? They protect their superstars.”

The Oilers released a statement.

The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans’ frustration over the three-game suspension of our captain Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup vs. Seattle next week.

McDavid will miss the Oilers’ games against the Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, and Buffalo Sabres; he’s eligible to return when Edmonton hosts the Seattle Kraken on January 27. 

The Oilers do not plan to appeal the suspension to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

 

Canucks’ Tyler Myers Cross-Checks Evan Bouchard

Myers picked up a match penalty of his own for a brutal cross-check to the face of Evan Bouchard. The two players were not at all engaged, with Bouchard skating slowly towards Myers after the whistle.  Out of nowhere, Myers delivered a cross-check up high. 

 

Both players will miss three games. Arguably, the cross-check from Myers was far more egregious, coming after the play and directed at an unsuspecting victim; as such, he deserved a longer ban.  

McDavid will forfeit $195,312.51 in salary as a result of the suspension, while Myers will miss out on $46,875.00.  

 

The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Referees for the game were Wes McCauley (#4) and Chris Lee (#28); linespersons were Kiel Murchison (#79) and Caleb Apperson (#77).