More woes as Kane is suspended for Game 2
LAS VEGAS — The hole the Sharks dug themselves in a Game 1 blowout loss got a little deeper on Friday afternoon.
At about 4:30 p.m., the NHL announced that Evander Kane was suspended for Game 2 because of his major penalty and game misconduct stemming from his cross-check of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in Game 1.
That puts the Sharks — embarrassed on the ice by the speedy, opportunistic Golden Knights in Game 1 — without one of their fastest, toughest scoring threats.
“It’s difficult,” said coach Peter DeBoer, on his game planning before he knew the outcome of Kane’s disciplinary hearing. “But it’s not; it’s like an injury. If he’s out, then next man up.”
The Sharks practiced in the early afternoon on Friday and Kane’s disciplinary hearing, by conference call, was held at 2:30. Two hours later the ruling came down, which wasn’t a surprise.
Down 5-0, Kane came back to the front of the net and crosschecked Bellemare, who had his back to Kane. Kane first hit him in the shoulder and then on the head, knocking him to the ice. Bellemare left the ice for a time, bloodied, but returned. During the course of the major-penalty power play, the Knights added two more goals, bringing the winning score to 7-0.
The video on the NHL.com “Player Safety Decision” site notes that “this cross-check occurs well after the whistle is blown and serves no purpose but as a strike to an opponent’s head. This is not a hockey play.” The indication is that they considered Kane’s suspension history: He had been suspended for two games for a boarding incident four years ago.
The suspension will definitely hurt the Sharks.
“He’s a big part of this team,” Joe Pavelski said of Kane. “He plays a hard game, a fast game.”
And speed is what the Sharks need more of in Game 2.
There was a bit of a tease in practice on Friday, before the suspension was announced. Joe Thornton, still returning from knee surgery, was out on the ice, skating with first liners Kane and Pavelski. Missing was Joonas Donskoi, who DeBoer said had a “maintenance” day.
Could Thornton play? Was he getting some run with the first line as a contingency if the Sharks learned later in the day that Kane would be suspended?
Thornton and DeBoer squashed that theory as soon as the team got off the ice.
“Nothing’s changed,” Thornton said. “Day by day.”
DeBoer said of Thornton, “He’s not going to play next game.”
End of intrigue. The future Hall of Famer won’t be on the ice, which makes sense.
Forcing a guy who still doesn’t look ready in practices onto the ice would be an act of desperation. And the Sharks aren’t desperate after just one loss.
Plus, the Sharks’ issue in the blowout loss to the Golden Knights was dealing with the Vegas speed. It wouldn’t make any sense to put a player on the ice who would slow them down.
DeBoer was matter of fact on Friday. He said that practice was the same as always, just a little longer because they had seven conceded goals to review.
“There was a little more stuff today and a little more negative than positive,” DeBoer said.
To a man, the team said they had to “flush” the poor performance and move on.
“We weren’t good,” DeBoer said. “We weren’t good early and we couldn’t get it back.
“I don’t think it was the worst game we’ve played in the history of hockey. It got away from us. We’ll get it back.”
It will be tougher without Kane.
After the game on Thursday night, Kane said, “I’m not a dirty player.” And his history says he isn’t.
He was applauded in some quarters for being the player to finally fight back after the Sharks had gotten their behinds kicked up and down the ice for about 50 minutes.
But this isn’t your father’s NHL. Being a tough guy comes with consequences. The league is facing the same concerns about blows to the head, concussions and brain trauma as the NFL. Any blow to the head is going to be dissected, reviewed and punished. If the league ends up in court, it can’t very well say, “Yeah, we saw that guy whack the other guy
with a stick, yet we did nothing about it.”
So no Kane. Down one game. Embarrassed by a 7-0 loss.
The Sharks have portrayed themselves as underdogs all year, having lost Patrick Marleau in the summer and Thornton in January.
The mentality has worked for them. Let’s see if it does in Game 2.