EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy was suspended one game on Monday for a cross-check on Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.
A skirmish began after the final buzzer sounded in on Sunday night. Soucy shoved McDavid behind the Canucks鈥� net and McDavid responded by hitting Soucy鈥檚 leg with his stick.
Canucks blue liner Nikita Zadorov then cross-checked McDavid from behind, and Soucy cross-checked the Oilers captain in the face as he was falling.
Soucy was handed a minor penalty for the play and Monday, saying in a video that the defenseman鈥檚 actions were 鈥渘ot a hockey play鈥� and deserved additional discipline.
Zadorov was fined $5,000 by the NHL, the maximum amount under the collective bargaining agreement.
Vancouver leads the best-of-seven second-round series 2-1, in Edmonton.
Soucy told reporters Monday that he wasn鈥檛 trying to injure McDavid on the play.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just an unfortunate incident due to some timing. 鈥� Obviously there wasn鈥檛 intent to get a player up that high,鈥� he said before the suspension was announced.
鈥淓motions run high in those scrums at the end of the game.鈥�
Missing game time would be difficult, the 29-year-old defenseman said.
鈥淚t would suck, obviously, at this time, in a tight series like this, in a physical series,鈥� Soucy said. 鈥淚 know guys will step up if that is the case. But it sucks having to watch your team.鈥�
McDavid said Monday he was 鈥渇eeling great鈥� and didn鈥檛 want to talk too much about the incident, other than calling it 鈥減art of a heated series.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough game. They鈥檝e got big d-men. They make it hard on you. They play physical, they play a physical brand of hockey and it鈥檚 fun to be a part of,鈥� said the Oilers captain.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun series to be a part of. Obviously, two Canadian teams going at it, there鈥檚 a lot of passion.鈥�
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The Associated Press
