The opening scene of the iconic hockey movie “Slap Shot” features Denis Lemieux describing what happens when a player commits a penalty: “You go to the box, you know. Two minutes — by yourself — you know, and you feel shame.”
Sometimes it’s not such a lonely feeling.
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Packed penalty boxes have become all the rage early in the NHL playoffs, with officials doling out discipline by the fistful. On consecutive nights this week, they sent off all 10 skaters who were on the ice during melees in Montreal-Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh-Philadelphia first-round games.
“They just decided to take everybody who was on the ice, which I’ve never seen in my 17 years (in the league),” said Erik Karlsson, who was one of the five incarcerated Penguins players. “It’s unfortunate. It benefited them more than it benefited us. … I don’t fully understand what just happened.”
The Penguins and Flyers — who lead the series 3-0 — get an extra day before Game 4 in Philadelphia on Saturday night. The Canadiens and Lightning, who are tied 1-1, get back at it Friday night in Montreal. The teams are clearly not fond of each other, what with Brandon Hagel and Juraj Slafkovsky dropping the gloves for an unlikely fight and all the rest of face-washing and shoving going on nearly every whistle.
“Somebody’s going to be the villain, I guess, and we’re OK with it,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “The guys play hard, they’re a determined group and when there’s obstacles in their way, they’ll try and get through it any way possible. And if it’s fighting their way through it, then so be it.”
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Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Friday, 7 p.m. ET (TNT)
Series: Tied 1-1
Cooper said he and the Lightning are in a fun series right now after winning Game 2, with both games going to overtime.
“Nobody said it’s going to be easy,” said Tampa Bay winger Corey Perry, who has appeared in five of the past six Stanley Cup Finals and has a ring from Anaheim‘s title run in 2007. “Two teams that match up well against each other. This is what the playoffs are all about. There’s somebody new every single night making a name for themselves.”
On Tuesday night, that was teammate J.J. Moser, who beat Jakub Dobes to be the OT hero. It was Slafkovsky in Game 1 when the Montreal winger completed his hat trick against Andrei Vasilevskiy.
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The scene now shifts to Bell Centre. Asked about the atmosphere his players are about to experience, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said simply: “They’ll be ready. They know they have the support from the fans. They’ll be ready.”
Vegas Golden Knights at Utah Mammoth
When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET (TBS)
Series: Tied 1-1
The first NHL playoff game in Salt Lake City is a party unto itself, coming just over two years since the team moved there from Arizona and just under one since it became known as the Mammoth. Commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to be in attendance, and the city is buzzing for its first playoff game by a Big Four franchise since the NBA’s Utah Jazz lost to Dallas on April 23, 2022.
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“You obviously want the city to do well with what they did for me and what they did for that group bringing in a fresh team and welcomed them with open arms,” said Josh Doan, who played in Utah last season and is in the playoffs now with Buffalo following a summer trade to the Sabres. “They deserve it, and it is fun to watch from the outside.”
After the Golden Knights rallied to take the series opener, the Mammoth punched back in Game 2.
“Obviously they’re a skilled team,” Vegas forward Mitch Marner said. “We’ve got to do a better job of slowing down their speed.”
Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks
When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Friday, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)
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Series: Tied 1-1
Long removed from the core of Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer hoisting the Cup nearly two decades ago, the Ducks are set to host the first playoff game in Anaheim since 2018.
“It’s been a long time,” veteran coach Joel Quenneville said. “(The fans are) passionate. They’ve won. They know what it feels like. They know what playoff hockey’s all about, and they get a couple big games here.”
Quenneville’s team has so far kept three-time MVP Connor McDavid off the scoresheet, and the Oilers captain appeared to injure his right leg or ankle in the Game 2 loss that evened the series.
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While Edmonton made plenty of self-inflicted mistakes, the plucky Ducks also showed the spotlight isn’t too bright by responding at important moments. Goaltender Lukas Dostal said 32-year-old defenseman Jacob Trouba keeps saying the team is “young and dumb a little bit” but in a good way.
“The guys, we have always believed,” Dostal said. “We have so many comebacks in the third period this year, so we just know we can just keep going. I think we show it the whole year that we’re basically never out of a game.”
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AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston in Philadelphia and Mark Anderson in Las Vegas and AP freelance writer Erik Erlendsson in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
