Soucy suspended one game, Zadorov fined for cross-checks on McDavid

Vancouver Canucks defenceman Carson Soucy has been suspended one game for a cross-check on Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.

A skirmish began after the final buzzer sounded in Vancouver’s 4-3 victory in Game 3 Sunday after Soucy shoved McDavid behind the Canucks’ net and McDavid responded by hitting Soucy’s leg with his stick.

Canucks blue liner Nikita Zadorov then cross-checked McDavid from behind, and Soucy cross-checked the

Oilers captain in the face as he was falling.

Soucy was handed a minor penalty for the play and the NHL’s Department of Player Safety handed down a onegame suspension Monday, saying in a video that the defenceman’s actions were “not a hockey play” and deserved additional discipline.

Zadorov was fined US$5,000 by the NHL, the maximum amount under the collective bargaining agreement.

Vancouver leads the bestof-seven second-round series 2-1, with Game 4 set for Tuesday night in Edmonton.

Soucy told reporters Monday that he wasn’t trying to injure McDavid on the play.

“It’s just an unfortunate incident due to some timing. … Obviously there wasn’t intent to get a player up that high,” he said before the suspension was announced.

“Emotions run high in those scrums at the end of the game.”