There were violent scenes in Game Two of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Vegas Golden Knights opened up a 2-0 series lead over the Florida Panther s by securing a convincing 7-2 victory on Monday. But ugly scenes ensued when forward Jack Eichel had to go to the locker room after a huge hit by opposing player Matthew Tkachuk late in the second period. The 26-year-old was skating out of his zone when he toe-picked just as the right winger made a heavy shoulder-to-shoulder hit that dropped Eichel onto his back and even knocked his helmet off.
The incident kicked off an intense brawl between the two teams which forced officials to step in and cool proceedings. The referees had to do the same in Game One on Sunday, when a fight broke out after Tkachuk threw a punch at Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague, prompting Eichel to go after Tkachuk and defend his teammate.
For his actions on Monday, Tkachuk received a 10-minute game misconduct and a two-minute minor for roughing. Postgame, Tkachuk showed no remorse for the hit on Eichel.
"It doesn't matter who you are," Tkachuk told reporters. “You shouldn't be going through the middle with your head down. You're gonna get hit. It's nothing. It's not a big deal. He's a really good player, and really good players can get hit too."
Eichel returned to the game at the start of the third period, and in his very first post-hit shift, set-up a goal by Jonathan Marchessault.
The biggest concern regarding the hit by Tkachuk, was the fact that Eichel is 19 months removed from having a herniated disk in his neck surgically repaired. Eichel, who has 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in his first-ever postseason, was quick to move on from the incident.
“It’s a physical game. You’re going to get hit sometimes,” Eichel said. “It was definitely a big collision. I got my wits back about me and realized I was fine, and just kind of moved on."
The Golden Knights edged closer to the franchise's first Stanley Cup by opening up a 2-0 series lead on the Panthers. Coach Bruce Cassidy was pleased with the performance.
"We finished some plays,” he said. “It's a good performance for us. Our guys were ready to play.”
Florida now faces an uphill battle, as only three out of 34 teams in NHL history have recovered from a two-game deficit to win the Stanley Cup in the expansion era. Tkachuk admitted his team needs to make some adjustments if they are to have any chance of a comeback.
"We do have to tweak a few things,” he explained. “They're halfway there, and hopefully they're thinking about that a little bit as they're coming to Florida. I think that could work in our favour. But we definitely have to prepare, give everything in this one game here, and just get a little bit of momentum back.”
Game Three of the Stanley Cup Final will take place in the early hours of Friday, June 9 at 1 a.m. (8 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 8.)
