It’s not very often you see a nine-minute power-play up on the board, but Sunday’s Game 1 between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights isn’t the kind of game you see very often, either.
The two highest-finishing teams in the NHL this year, the Avs and Knights series was bound to be entertaining. Even though the Knights are coming off a 7-game series, and the Avs haven’t played in a week, not many would have predicted the 7-1 thrashing the Avs laid on Vegas in Game 1.
As is often the case in blowouts, it got pretty rough between the two teams. A total of 74 minutes were racked up between the two teams, but with 12:56 to go in the game we saw a particularly noteworthy moment.
An absolute melee unfolded, and 54 of the 74 total PIMs were dished out during one stoppage. Offsetting misconducts were called on Zach Whitecloud and Brandon Saad, along with Alex Pietrangelo and Valeri Nichushkin. Ryan Reaves, who was manhandling Ryan Graves and appeared to have him pinned in a vulnerable position, was assessed a match penalty along with a roughing double-minor.
The result was a rarely seen 9-minute power-play.
This may not be the end of it, either. A match penalty means the refs determined Reaves to have intent to injure, which will require a further look from the Department of Player Safety.
