Edmonton’s first period against the Anaheim Ducks turned into a full-on mess Thursday night at Rogers Place, with Vasily Podkolzin getting tossed after jumping in to defend Connor McDavid.
The trouble started just over eight minutes in when McDavid drove toward the Ducks net and was hit by defenceman Drew Helleson after already getting a shot off. McDavid slammed into the corner of the goal, with his leg catching the post and his upper body crashing into the net’s frame.
He needed a moment to get back up, and when he did, he was clearly angry. After shouting at Helleson, McDavid tried to go after him, but a referee stepped in to hold him back.
Podkolzin wasn’t interested in letting it go. Skating in while Helleson was already guarded by a linesman, he went after the Ducks defender and the gloves came off fast. Podkolzin got the better of the exchange, but referee Cody Beach ruled it a “one-man fight,” giving him a five-minute major for fighting, a two-minute instigator penalty and a game misconduct.
McDavid missed the next few minutes while Cutter Gauthier put Anaheim up 1-0, but he returned soon after and made his presence felt immediately. On his first shift back, he delivered a heavy hit on Ducks centre Leo Carlsson along the boards.
The physical edge kept building from there. Leon Draisaitl took a run at Helleson a moment later, while Max Jones got involved as well, cross-checking Ducks forward Sam Colangelo and taking a two-minute penalty. Jones also drew an interference call on Noah Warren and later caught Roger McQueen with a sneaky reverse hit in the period.
The penalties kept piling up. On the Oilers power play after Warren’s infraction, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tripped Tim Washe, and Kasperi Kapanen tangled with Pavel Mintyukov before the two dropped the gloves. Kapanen’s big right cross missed as both players went down and were sent off to the locker room.
Edmonton finally cashed in late in the period, with Evan Bouchard scoring on the power play with 18 seconds left to tie the game 1-1 heading into the intermission. By then, the teams had combined for 41 penalty minutes, and there was little sign the temperature was going to drop.
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