Wild night of flying sticks claims coach in Philly, rule book in L.A.
Sticks were flying — literally — from coast to coast in two crazy incidents in the NHL on Thursday night. Players and coaches, champions and also-rans . . . no one was safe on the ice.
The first incident took place in Philadelphia, where the Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on a power-play goal by Jakub Voracek just 88 seconds into overtime.
Wait . . . who cares? Just get to the flying sticks? Good call.
Check this out:
Woah ! "@Sportsnet: #GottaSeeIt: Barry Trotz cut in forehead by own player's high stick. http://t.co/NtqbyFI9Mm pic.twitter.com/XhDzU5tFRY"
— MetalJohn (@metaljohnradio) January 9, 2015
Like the tweet says, this was a result of friendly fire, the Capitals' Marcus Johansson catching his coach's noggin with a stick as he was checked into the boards in the first period. Watch for yourself:
Later in the night, on the other side of the country, the Rangers were in Los Angeles, facing the Kings at Staples Center for the first time since Alec Martinez ended New York's season in last season's Stanley Cup Final.
The Rangers would get their vengeance (OK, a regular-season game in January isn't quite the same as the Cup Final) on Thursday with a 4-3 win on the road. But late in the game, with the Kings trying to mount a comeback and the Rangers doing everything they could to hold off the champs, New York's J.T. Miller pretty much threw everything but the kitchen sink at the situation.
Seeing defenseman Dan Boyle skating back into the Rangers' zone without a stick, Miller knew the potential last line of defense needed some help. So he did this:
J.T. Miller tries loaning his stick to Dan Boyle #NYR http://t.co/tk0jmNdPCa
— Ryan Ohanesian (@ryanohan) January 9, 2015
While the play was unusual to say the least, it did not draw the Rangers a penalty. Kings color man and former player Jim Fox said during the FOX Sports West telecast that it would have been a penalty had Boyle caught the stick; considering Boyle's reaction to the helpful gesture, that would seem to make sense.
And here's the proof:
NHL Rule 10.3: Broken Stick — Player: A player who has lost or broken his stick may only receive a stick at his own players’ bench or be handed one from a teammate on the ice. A player will be penalized if he throws, tosses, slides or shoots a stick to teammate on the ice. A player may not participate in the play using a goalkeeper’s stick. A minor penalty shall be imposed for an infraction of this rule.
Apparently, Boyle's unwillingness to accept the stick mean it was not actually thrown to a teammate.
