Burrows no instigator, league rules
CLEARED TO PLAY: NHL decides feisty Canucks forward won’t be given suspension for late-game fisticuffs
CALGARY — Alex Burrows didn’t skate Monday but he will Tuesday.
The Vancouver Canucks winger had his instigator penalty rescinded after a late-game fight with Kris Russell on Sunday.
It could have resulted in an automatic one-game suspension for Burrows and a $10,000 US fine for coach Willie Desjardins for an instigator infraction in the final five minutes of regulation or at any point in overtime. The NHL ruled that the incident at 18:35 of the third period was “not related to the score, previous incidents in the game or prior games, retaliatory in nature or message sending.”
Burrows didn’t participate in an optional practice Monday. Did he get a break because Calgary Flames defenceman Deryk Engelland had his instigator penalty in Game 2 of the series rescinded? How will it affect how he plays in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarter-final?
Burrows will speak following the game-day skate Tuesday, but Flames coach Bob Hartley had plenty to say Monday. When asked if he liked the way Russell went after Burrows after the winger had hammered Johnny Gaudreau into the sideboards, the Flames coach strongly suggested another look at the video.
And upon further review, the optics are fuzzy as to the borderline ruling. Burrows appeared to anticipate an altercation and Russell veered toward him before the Canucks winger threw a quick punch as the altercation started. Burrows received a boarding minor for the hit on Gaudreau and a game misconduct to go with the fighting major and instigator penalty for the Russell bout.
“I thought that Burrows went after Russell after he tried to put Gaudreau through the boards,” said Hartley.
Desjardins stressed it was important that the NHL look at game video for the assessment on Burrows for the right decision and said: “I’m glad that’s what they felt.”
Russell felt he had to answer after the hit on Gaudreau, even though the Flames defenceman fought on just one other occasion this season, Nov. 25 in Anaheim against Ryan Kesler. He has just 11 career fights but more than held his own against Burrows.
“He hit Johnny and we had a little talk and dropped the gloves — not much more than that,” shrugged Russell. “It happened pretty quick. We came together and his gloves were off and we’re fighting. It (ruling) is on the league and it really doesn’t bother me too much. It’s playoff hockey and stuff like that happens. We knew it was going to be physical from the start because it’s two teams that really don’t like each other. We expect it to increase.
“We’re a group that prides itself on playing between the whistles, and obviously in the playoffs, things boil over sometimes and we’ve got to be prepared for that. We have to be disciplined and prepared to stick up for our teammates, but every game and every situation is going to be different and tomorrow (Tuesday) is going to be a big test.”
A big test for both clubs. They’ve been instructed to curtail after-the-whistle intimidation and gamesmanship because infractions will be stiffer and suspensions stronger.
Kevin Bieksa didn’t want to talk about Sunday and how he and Michael Ferland fought at 18:53 of the third period. The Canucks defenceman wanted to talk about how his veteran team with seasonlong resilience can rise to the occasion once again Tuesday. Especially if they don’t take the fighting bait or initiate altercations.
“I’m not worried about it because we’re a pretty disciplined team, but we were on the wrong end of some penalties in the third period Sunday and they capitalized,” said Bieksa. “We’ve got to be smarter. At times, we’ve been sucked in a bit and we’ve got to be on the right side of those calls because the officials have spoken and they don’t want that stuff after the whistles.
“A lot of instigators have been rescinded and they (referees) aren’t happy. Both teams have been fortunate to get away with some stuff and we’ve all learned our lessons. They want to clean the series up and that should work to our favour.
“We’ve played some good hockey in this series and if we play our game, it’s going to be tough for them to keep up.”
That’s interesting. The common themes with the Flames in this series are youth, speed and conditioning. They have looked faster at times, and if the Canucks don’t find a better way to break out of their zone and beat a heavy forecheck, they’re going to be in trouble and heading back home trailing 3-1.
“We know how to handle these situations,” added Bieksa. “We have to hit our wingers with speed because they (Flames) are pinching a lot, and when they do get the puck, they jam it right down our throats. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s one we have to get on the other side of.”