During the clash between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, Jack Eichel was ejected from the game. This came after he was assessed a five-minute major for spearing Kirill Kaprizov.
The incident took place in the fourteenth minute of the second half with the game still scoreless. As Kirill Kaprizov skated forward, he would end up colliding with the stick of Jack Eichel right in the chest.
While the Vegas Golden Knights star pleaded that the collision was unintentional, the referees handed him a five-minute major. Upon video review, the call stood which saw Eichel being stunned.
This also turned out to be Eichel’s first ever major penalty. Kaprizov and his team would take full advantage of the power-play situation as he himself scored almost two minutes and forty seconds later to give his team a 1-0 lead.
The Minnesota-based outfit though was unable to hold off their opponents. Mike Amadio would level up the game for the Golden Knights with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period. This took the game to overtime, where more drama unfolded.
Minnesota Wild forfeit point in OT loss
As per NHL rules, in the overtime period, the losing team earns a point. However, that is not always the case as the Minnesota Wild had to forfeit their point in this loss.
The reason for this was because they had pulled the goalie. When a team takes off their goalie, they introduce another attacker in his place while leaving the goal open.
The Wild would take off their goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Earlier in March, they had pulled off their goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and brought on an extra forward. This move worked out well for them that time as they ended up as 4-3 winners against the Nashville Predators.
Unfortunately for them, this time their plan did not work out. They would end up losing the possession of the puck late on in the game which left their net open. Forward Jonathan Marchessault would end up scoring the winner from his own half.
After the game, Gustavsson, opened up about this decision and claimed they “needed the two points“.
We needed two points. We weren’t going to be happy with one point. It didn’t go our way. It is what it is
Filip Gustavsson said as per NHL.com.The Wild are now ten points behind the fourth place Predators. With just nine more games this season, this loss has put a huge dent in their hopes of qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs next month.
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