Chaos erupts as Timmins' dirty cross-check sparks Leafs-Kraken brawl

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Graham Montgomery
January 21, 2024 (10:12 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are in free fall as they continue to drop critical games leading up to the NHL trade deadline. Tonight they stand a good chance of picking up a critical win, but not before Connor Timmins made a goofy mistake in his first game with the team since the 14th.

The play came in what was Timmins' first shift of the game. The blueliner was pursuing kraken forward Brandon Tanev behind his own net when he extended his arms to cross check him at a dangerous time. The referee immediately put his arm up for a penalty, but chaos erupted on the ice anyways.

That's a dangerous cross-check by Conor Timmins.

Brandon Tanev was right to be furious.

After everything settled down, Seattle ended the sequence with a powerplay with two penalties being assessed to Toronto, including Timmins' cross check on Tanev.

Timmins In Danger Of Losing NHL Job With Questionable Play

Timmins has been playing spot duty for the Leafs this year, effectively serving as the 7th defenseman. Head coach Sheldon Keefe will likely be reluctant to play him again after he made such a careless play so early in the game. Timmins got just over 4 minutes of ice time in the first period, indicating Keefe's disapproval of his play.

The only reason Timmins was even playing tonight is because it was the second half of a back-to-back. Sheldon Keefe has been giving his oldest player, Mark Giordano, these nights off in an effort to keep him fresh.

Mark Giordano will be sitting this one out, per Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. Connor Timmins will suit up in place.

Now the head coach could very well turn to someone else as he will likely not be pleased with Timmins in this game. Taking a penalty on the first shift of the game is never a good look, especially for a player that is looking to earn more ice time.