Nathan MacKinnon ejected after scary Oilers goalie collision that has Avalanche furious originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
When the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers square off, it’s a big matchup in large part because that means Nathan MacKinnon against Connor McDavid.
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MacKinnon was in the spotlight by the end of Tuesday night’s game, but for an unexpected penalty and ejection, not for scoring.
His final action of the game came as he skated toward the net and took a hit from an Oilers defenseman. It sent MacKinnon sprawling into Edmonton goalie Connor Ingram.
MacKinnon’s skate even caught Ingram on the way by, cutting him and forcing him to leave the game.
The referees gave MacKinnon a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, meaning he was ejected.
Ingram had to come out of the game in favor of Tristan Jarry.
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Jarry actually made a few huge saves down the stretch to lead the Oilers to a win.
After the game, Colorado head coach Jared Bednar was not happy.
“The goalie’s hurt, so it’s 5,” Bednar said about the penalty. “Again, I really don’t give a crap if the goalie’s hurt. That’s on their d-man, not on our guy.”
His point is a fair one. MacKinnon didn’t skate into Ingram on his own. He got a deflection on the way.
It was an unfortunate situation all around, and it certainly won’t increase these teams’ liking for each other by the next time they play.
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