Things got pretty heated between the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks Wednesday night, with plenty of penalty minutes to go around.
One of the most controversial plays came at the end of the second period, when Sharks defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic appeared to spear Senators blueliner Erik Karlsson. (Watch the play at the top of this post.)
Karlsson was not happy with the play, and didn’t mince words when speaking with reporters following the eventual 4-3 shootout loss.
“I’m down in the corner, battling, and I lose my stick. The play is gone, and I’m reaching for it (stick), and he tries to pitchfork me in the face,” Karlsson explained. “And I’m lucky that I’m looking down, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s a dangerous play. It’s intentional.”
Kyle Turris, Karlsson’s teammate, jumped into the mix right after the incident to defend his captain.
“I’ve got to give it to [Turris] for sticking up for me and I’m happy I didn’t lose my cool, or do something stupid, and I’m lucky that he didn’t hit me in a bad spot because that was hard,” Karlsson said.
The incident occurred in the corner and away from game action, and officials didn’t call a penalty on the play.
They did, however, issue Vlasic and Turris a pair of fighting majors, with Turris picking up an extra instigating penalty and a 10-minute misconduct.
Senators head coach Guy Boucher also backed up Turris’ actions.
“Sticking up for teammates, when the guy has a two-hand spear to the throat, I think guys on the bench are definitely sticking together,” Boucher told reporters. “Turris had a very good game, had a big goal and was certainly one of the guys that showed up today and had great leadership.”
