When the Edmonton Oilers were set to take on the Washington Capitals this past Tuesday, a lot of the attention was centred around Connor McDavid’s suspension and how the team would perform without him. Also, Alex Ovechkin was in town with the buzz surrounding his chase to break Wayne Gretzky’s record for most goals scored in NHL history.
However, one random moment during the game drew more attention than all of that. A plate of nachos was thrown on the ice during the third period and was showcased on the game’s broadcast when Corey Perry scored to make the score 3-2.
The nachos sparked a massive reaction from Oilers fans and the hockey world.
Dimitri Filipovic highlights where the puck and nachos were before Corey Perry fired the puck into the back of the net. This resulted in a response indicating that the nachos had assisted Perry.
As the video of the Rogers Place staff cleaning up the nachos started circulating online, it sparked memes and jokes about the incident.
After the game, players and staff from the Capitals voiced their point of view of the nachos landing on the ice. Goaltender Logan Thompson mentioned how it distracted him during the play.
“I’ve never seen that before. Obviously, I gotta play until the whistle. That one’s on me.” Thompson said in his media availability after the game. “I talked about it earlier, but I don’t know what the official ruling on that is. Just play to the whistle and realize if there’s stuff on the ice. I saw the guy who threw them wasn’t too happy, so credit to him. He got them a goal.”
Head Coach Spencer Carbery also noted that nachos on the ice was something brand new to him and the Capitals.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nachos on the ice national hockey league game. And we were saying, did they save them? Maybe we can bring them into the locker room, but that’s a first right there.”
Carbery said that he didn’t even realize they were on the ice until players on the team started pointing them out.
“I didn’t even notice it, then the guys were yelling ‘nachos on the ice,’ and I said, ‘Can we challenge that?'” he said jokingly to the media.
Even Oilers forward Corey Perry didn’t seem to notice what was on the ice.
“I didn’t even see them. Honestly, if they were there before or whatever, I was focused on the play.”
Those in attendance and in section 104 watched it all unfold. Some fans mentioned how the individual who threw it might have had a couple of adult beverages before choosing to throw the nachos on the ice.
However, for the Oilers, the nachos were not enough to propel the team to victory as they would end up losing 3-2 to the Capitals in regulation time. It’s a shame Edmonton wasn’t able to pull off the comeback because we could have enshrined those things as the Rally Nachos.