NHL Department of Player Safety to Punish Connor McDavid for Incident With Conor Garland
It was uncharacteristic behavior from Connor McDavid as he viciously cross-checked Conor Garland, and will no doubt find some extra punishment from the NHL.
During Saturday night's game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers, it was a game filled with tension given the Elias Pettersson and J. T. Miller drama, and Edmonton looking to continue their dominant winning streak.
But one incident seemed to shadow everything else, and while the Oilers ended up coming away with the loss, it was a lot worse thanks to a very uncharacteristic action from captain Connor McDavid.
While it may have been frustrating for the Oilers superstar to be caught up with Conor Garland, his cross-check was uncalled for, earning him a game misconduct and now found himself with more potential punishment.
Connor McDavid's Actions Could Warrant A Suspension
The NHL automatically reviews any match penalty, so there's a chance that McDavid won't be punished further, and as the League's golden boy; he might walk away unscathed.
But he shouldn't, and his actions were out of line for simply being entangled with Garland. If he had cross-checked McDavid, slashed him, or something worthy of retaliation then perhaps it wouldn't have been an issue, but Garland did nothing wrong and McDavid threw a temper tantrum.
He has been suspended once before, for an illegal hit to the head of Nick Leddy, but more often than not is the victim of such incidents, not the perpetrator.
McDavid isn't the only person who is going to get a hearing as well from the NHL, as Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers will also receive one for his cross-check to the face of Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard.
The date and time for the hearing is unknown, there should be some type of answer by the time Monday evening rolls around, and both teams will need to shift gears if their players get the boot for a game or two.
This season, McDavid has been his usual superstar self, with 20 goals and 45 assists through 43 games for the first place Oilers (tied with Vegas in the Pacific Divsion)
