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‘It’s a dangerous play’: Mattias Ekholm comments on hit from Jack Eichel
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Photo credit: © David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Cam Lewis
Dec 15, 2024, 13:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 15, 2024, 13:24 EST
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The Edmonton Oilers beat the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon but the game wasn’t as drama-free as the 6-3 score might suggest.
The home side opened the scoring in the first period with a power-play goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and goals from Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Leon Drasiatil, and Corey Perry had the Oilers up 5-0 by the middle of the second frame.
The Golden Knights didn’t go away quietly. Victor Olofsson and Ivan Barbashev scored in the final five minutes of the second to make the score 5-2.
Those two goals brought some intensity back to the game and Vegas forward Jack Eichel turned the heat up further by pushing Mattias Ekholm into the boards from behind in Edmonton’s zone. No penalty was called on the play, which prompted anger from Oilers fans in attendance and on the internet.
Vegas scored early in the third period to bring the score to 5-3 and then Jeff Skinner responded seconds later with a goal that restored Edmonton’s lead to three. The Oilers got back at Eichel and the Golden Knights by winning a four-point Pacific Division showdown but there was still some frustration in Edmonton’s room after the game because of the non-call.
Ekholm said after the game that he was told there wasn’t a call on the play because the referee didn’t believe the cross-check was forceful enough to warrant one.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory. But the explanation I got from (referee Francis Charron) was he didn’t think the cross-check was that forceful,” Ekholm said. “Obviously, I think it’s a penalty. If I were to do that to somebody and get two minutes, I wouldn’t say a word about it. It’s a dangerous play.”
Captain Connor McDavid talked to the refs immediately following the play and told Ekholm that they saw the defender falling head-first into the boards as the result of a battle between two players. 
“What I heard from Connor right away is that (the ref) said it was a battle, Ekholm continued. “I don’t really see it as a battle. I think (the ref) missed a call and that’s gonna happen.”
Kris Knoblauch was asked about Eichel’s hit on Ekholm and the often even-keeled head coach succinctly expressed dissatisfaction that the refs didn’t believe it warranted a penalty being called. 
“I didn’t like it,” Knoblauch said. “Just not a penalty, that’s the explanation I got.”
The Oilers will be back in action on Monday as they host the Florida Panthers for the first time since meeting in the Stanley Cup Final in June. Edmonton and the Golden Knights won’t play again until April 1  in Vegas, which is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams on the regular season schedule. Something tells me that game won’t be the last time they meet in 2024-25, though. 

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