Hockey/nhl
Tampa Bay 4, Washington 2
Los Angeles 2, Edmonton 0
Fallout from Sunday’s nationally televised Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins third-period scuffle hit Monday when the NHL fined two coaches and the Flyers said Danny Briere was out indefinitely with an upper back bruise.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was fined $10,000 and Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato was fined $2,500 for their actions on the bench while players were engaged in a physical confrontation on the ice. Granato and Laviolette were ejected from the game after they were seen screaming at each other through the plexiglass partition between the benches.
It was Pittsburgh forward Joe Vitale’s legal, open-ice hit on Briere that helped spark the melee that included one fight, plus pushing and shoving and the exchange of words. It delayed the game for almost 10 minutes. The Flyers won 6-4.
Earlier in the game, the Penguins weren’t happy when Flyers forward Brayden Schenn cross-checked Sidney Crosby to the ice.
“I don’t think there was anything wrong with what happened (with Vitale’s hit),” Penguins general manager Ray Shero said. “There was a good, legal bodycheck delivered from our guy to their guy. And what tends to happen in this day and age, whether there is a minute to go in the game or 10 minutes left in the second period, the other players take exception to it. They took exception to it, and we would have done the same thing.”
The teams will also play each other Saturday in their regularseason finales and will also likely play each other in the first round of the playoffs.
“This is a fierce rivalry, and things like (Sunday’s tussle) are going to happen,” Shero said.
The game was a ratings win for NBC, which reported Mon- day that the 1.2 overnight rating was the best for a regular-season game, excluding the Winter Classic and Hockey Day in America, in more than two years. The game had a 4.7 rating in Philadelphia, which is the best in that market for a regularseason game, excluding the Winter Classic, in 10 years.
Shero had no problems with his team’s fourth line being on the ice in the closing moments of the game. “No one got cheapshotted,” Shero said. “No one did something stupid. It was a hockey play. It was a hard hit.”
Shero said league general managers had discussed the issue of players in today’s game getting challenged, even if they make a clean, legal hit. “If a guy has to fight every time he delivers a clean, hockey check, then it is something we should be looking at,” Shero said.
Philadelphia’s Wayne Simmonds fought Deryk Engelland after the Vitale hit.
“Danny took a solid hit there, and obviously I’m going to go to my player’s defense,” Simmonds said in a conference call with the news media. “That’s the type of player I am. It doesn’t matter if I have stitches in my eyes, I have to go in there and stand up for my teammate.”
Asked whether he expects more of the same in a Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia playoff series, Simmonds said, “Definitely. It’s fun hockey; it’s like old school hockey. You come to the rink; you battle everyday; you know there’s going to be fights; you know you’re going to get hit, and you know you’re going to have to hit back. That’s the type of hockey that we like to play. So I think that suits our team well.”
Quincey suspended:
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Kyle
Quincey was suspended for one game Monday for his illegal hit to the face of Florida Panthers forward Tomas Kopecky during Detroit’s 2-1 shootout win Sunday.
At 5:38 of the third period, Quincey was given a major penalty and a game misconduct when he left his feet to hit Kopecky along the boards in the Detroit zone.
NHL vice president for player safety Brendan Shanahan handed down Quincey’s first career suspension because he judged Quincey lunged into Kopecky and made contact with his face.
Kopecky was shaken up but not injured on the play.
“Quincey leaped into the air,” Shanahan said in his explanation video.
Shanahan said he didn’t accept Quincey’s defense that he was “bracing” for the anticipated hit from Kopecky.
“Kopecky never did attempt to throw a hit,” Shanahan said.
Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, Quincey loses $16,891.89 in pay. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Around the rinks:
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Christian Ehrhoff is expected to miss the final week of the season and blueliner Tyler Myers has a chance to return. . . . The topsyturvy Pacific Division enters today with four teams separated by four points. At least one team among the Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars will be left out of the game of playoff musical chairs.