Chaos reigned at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday night as the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins rivalry saw them engage in a huge brawl ahead of the shootout won by the former.
The Flyers claimed a 3-2 shootout win thanks to Bobby Brink, with Philadelphia moving to 5-3-1 through nine games this season after their Tuesday night win.
However, the game was marred by the brawl, which saw Flyers center Trevor Zegras remove Noel Acciari’s helmet while he was down, before the former then proceeded to throw punches at the latter following overtime.
Historically, it had been an unwritten rule for NHL players to remove their helmets before a fight. However, in 2013, the NHL instituted a rule that penalizes players for intentionally removing their helmets before fighting.
While Parker Wotherspoon had to be held back by a lineman, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Shea, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett and Jamie Drysdale were all given misconducts at the end of overtime, alongside the former, Zegras and Acciari.
Bizarrely, Zegras is not a fighter, with his first and only altercation coming last season following a cheap late hit by Conor Garland.
The misconduct delivered to Crosby also saw him miss out on the shootout, too, leaving Pittsburgh furious. “I’ll leave that between me and the refs,” Penguins head coach Dan Muse said.
It was a close-fought win by the Penguins, one which head coach Rich Tocchet believes shows his team are beginning to grow into who he wants them to be. “There’s not a lot of panic,” Rick Tocchet said of Pittsburgh’s composure.
“Listen, we’ve got a ways to go, don’t get me wrong, but I feel that when the pressure hits, we’re starting to deal with it a little bit, inch by inch, each game.
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He added: “Can we make that play under pressure? That’s the next level for us. Or can we get that puck out when the other team’s making a full-court press?
“These are the things that, one-goal games, you really learn fast. We’ve got some young guys here, we’re a young team, that it’s good for them to play these type of hockey games.”