The NHL suspended Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy for one game for his cross-check to Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid’s face. It happened during a scrum at the end of game three Sunday night in the Western Conference Semi-Finals in Edmonton.
The NHL Department of Player Safety said, “Soucy chooses to raise his stick to an unacceptably high level and delivers a two-handed blow which lands directly to his opponent’s head.” Nikita Zadorov was fined $5,000 for the cross-check he delivered to Connor McDavid from behind during the incident. After the game, McDavid said, “It’s a tough game. They’ve got big D-men. They play a physical brand of hockey. It’s fun to be a part of.”
Soucy Says He Didn’t Want to Injure McDavid
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Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy said he wasn’t trying to hurt McDavid. “Obviously, there wasn’t any intent to get a player up that high, so I kind of think it was an unfortunate incident,” Soucy said after Sunday night’s game. “I think we can just leave it at that.” Soucy has four assists and is plus-3 in nine games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year.
The Oilers were down one goal and had goaltender Stuart Skinner on the bench in the last minutes of game three. Edmonton pressed the Vancouver defense hard to score the tying goal as the horn ended the game.
Canucks Turn to New Defenseman for Game 4
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The Canucks will turn to defenseman Noah Juulsen to replace Soucy. The 27-year-old from Surrey, British Columbia, has only played one game so far in the postseason; that was game 2 in the first round against the Nashville Predators. In that game, he had 11:43 of ice time and had four penalty minutes.
Tocchet said of Juulsen: “I just think we’re lucky to have him as our seventh defenseman. He’s been a big contributor all year and played in some tough spots.
Juulsen said the hit was out of character for Carson Soucy. “He’s probably the nicest guy on this team,” said Juulsen, who will attempt to help the Canucks take a 3-1 lead back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Thursday.
Coach Rick Tocchet said his team operates on the next-man-up philosophy. “I think we’ve done that all year,” Juulsen said. “Guys have been shuttled in and out here and there, and guys that have been brought in, those guys pick it up as well. I think, obviously, the longer you are out, the harder it gets. But I think as a group, we try to stay engaged and stay on it the best we can.” Juulsen said.
Tocchet said, “We’re really confident in ‘Juuls.’”
Edmonton Needs a Win in Game 4 to Tie The Series
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Vancouver’s defense shut the Oilers’ high-powered offense down in game three. “Yeah. Not a comfortable situation to be in,” Connor McDavid said of the Oilers’ dressing room during Monday’s media availability.
“You never want to be down in a series, though we’ve been in this situation before, and we’ve always responded.” McDavid said, ” And I would expect us to do the same.” The Oilers are 3-0 in-game fours over the last two post-seasons.
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Bradley Tachco is a career journalist. I spent 12+ years at CNN as a writer and producer. My sports are the NHL, MLB, and NFL. My goal: unique content. And my teams are the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills (yes, I’m a masochist), and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have been a Dodgers fan since I was old enough to think. I have gone through decades of despair with all three franchises. You can follow Bradley on X @p09691
