Florida Panthers center Joe Thornton speared Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Boris Katchouk in the groin during Tuesday night's NHL game at the Amalie Arena.
It happened with just under five minutes remaining in the first period with no score. As Thornton and several other players on both teams battled for the puck along the boards in front of the Panthers bench, Katchouk came along and checked Thornton in the back. Thornton responded by spearing Katchouk in the crotch.
Play was stopped as Katchouk went down in pain and stayed down for several seconds before slowly getting up and skating off the ice. Thornton received a two minute slashing penalty. He may have felt justified in retaliating, but as they say, it's always the second guy that gets caught.
The Panthers beat the Lightning 4-1 and remain undefeated after three games. The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions fell to 2-2 on the season.
Florida Panthers center Joe Thornton speared Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Boris Katchouk in the groin during Tuesday night's NHL game at the Amalie Arena.
It happened with just under five minutes remaining in the first period with no score. As Thornton and several other players on both teams battled for the puck along the boards in front of the Panthers bench, Katchouk came along and checked Thornton in the back. Thornton responded by spearing Katchouk in the crotch.
Play was stopped as Katchouk went down in pain and stayed down for several seconds before slowly getting up and skating off the ice. Thornton received a two minute slashing penalty. He may have felt justified in retaliating, but as they say, it's always the second guy that gets caught.
The Panthers beat the Lightning 4-1 and remain undefeated after three games. The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions fell to 2-2 on the season.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber slashed Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov during the late stages of Monday night's opening game of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena.
It happened with under four minutes left in the third period with the Lightning holding a 4-1 lead. Kucherov took the pass across the Canadiens blue line, delivered a pass to a teammate and was attempting to position himself in the corner of the ice. With Kucherov not looking, Weber took his stick and whacked him in the back of his left knee.
Kucherov went down, but got up relatively quickly and continued playing. Weber did not receive a penalty, despite an official being in position behind the net, seemingly in a good position to see the play. Unfortunately, we cannot identify the official from the video, but they deserve to be called out for missing this one.
Kucherov got the last laugh, however, as two minutes later he delivered an assist to Steven Stamkos on a power play goal to close out a 5-1 victory and give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Kucherov had already contributed two goals, both in the third period.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber slashed Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov during the late stages of Monday night's opening game of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena.
It happened with under four minutes left in the third period with the Lightning holding a 4-1 lead. Kucherov took the pass across the Canadiens blue line, delivered a pass to a teammate and was attempting to position himself in the corner of the ice. With Kucherov not looking, Weber took his stick and whacked him in the back of his left knee.
Kucherov went down, but got up relatively quickly and continued playing. Weber did not receive a penalty, despite an official being in position behind the net, seemingly in a good position to see the play. Unfortunately, we cannot identify the official from the video, but they deserve to be called out for missing this one.
Kucherov got the last laugh, however, as two minutes later he delivered an assist to Steven Stamkos on a power play goal to close out a 5-1 victory and give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Kucherov had already contributed two goals, both in the third period.
