An NHL Playoff Game was stopped due to the actions of some frustrated fans.
As the Dallas Stars took on the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final, the home fans at the American Airlines Center began to throw debris on the ice. The Stars were already losing the series 2-0 and while trailing game three 4-0, as halftime approached their supporters were at the end of their tether.
To make matters worse, center Max Domi accumulated four minutes of penalties for a brutal cross-check and was later assessed a 10-minute misconduct. Approximately 21 seconds from the end of the second quarter, the game went to intermission following bottles that had been hurled onto the playing surface by angry spectators. The arena announcer urged fans to refrain from throwing debris onto the ice as the crew members came out to clear the area.
It didn’t stop there, however, as Vegas goaltender Adin Hill saw a bag of popcorn thrown in his direction as he made his return to the ice. The Golden Knights scored all their goals within the first seven minutes of the game after winning the first two games in overtime on their home ice.
A nightmare result for the Stars was only exacerbated by the fact they may be without captain Jamie Benn for game four. He received an ejection for his cross-check on Vegas skipper Mark Stone less than two minutes into Wednesday night's game.
The two leaders of each team collided and as Stone fell to the ice, with both hands on his stick Benn lunged forward and connected with Stone’s neck. He got a game misconduct and may receive a suspension by the NHL as a result. Stars head coach Peter DeBoer claimed his captain, who did talk to reporters after the game, made a mistake.
“Let’s put it this way. He made a mistake. He feels really badly about it. I don’t think anyone in the building feels worse than he does about it,” DeBoer said. “I’m not going to pile on, he’s been a leader here for his entire career, and leads every day on and off the ice. … Fortunately Mark Stone’s OK.
"We’ve got to live with the consequences. We lived with them tonight, and we’ll live with them going forward if there’s any other supplemental discipline.” Hill made an impressive 34 saves as he shut out the Stars and the Knights move just a game away from reaching their second Stanley Cup final in five years.
"I feel pretty good about my game right now, but it speaks volumes to our team too," Hill said ahead of Thursday’s game four. "We haven't lost many games in these playoffs. We're on a kind of roll right now and playing really well defensively, so I just want to keep it going and just focus on the next game."
