Oilers' Connor McDavid Faces Suspension With Automatic Hearing For Vicious Cross-Check

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Daniel Lucente
January 19, 2025 (10:09)

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Tensions reached a boiling point at the end of last night's Oilers-Canucks game, and both Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers will face automatic hearings later on.

A match penalty is called when officials deem a player has attempted to deliberately injure another. It comes with an automatic suspension pending a review by the NHL commissioner.

Connor McDavid could be suspended

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid could be out of the lineup for at least one game after he was handed a match penalty in the final minutes of Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

Garland had knocked the puck off McDavid's stick with less than 20 seconds left and the two tumbled to the ice in a brief scrum.

When they got to their feet, Garland took McDavid down again, preventing him from getting up. McDavid, frustrated, swung his stick and connected with Garland's head.

«I'm just holding him. I mean, he's the best player to ever do it. So, the time's running out. And I just thought that was maybe the best way for us to win a game was to do that," Garland said of the battle. "I don't want to hurt him."

A scrum erupted in front of the Canucks' net as several players from both sides pushed and shoved before officials stepped in.

As McDavid left the ice, tempers flared and Garland and Oilers star Leon Draisaitl exchanged words and shoves along the boards.

«Absolutely, there's a rivalry and Connor gets frustrated. He gets his stick up, and he's frustrated because we're down one goal and the best player in the league is getting held for 15 seconds," Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch said. "And there's frustration that's allowed to happen, and the stick got up, and yeah, so that's what happened.»

Elsewhere in the mayhem, Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard scrapped with Canucks blueliner Tyler Myers, who responded by sticking Bouchard in the face.

Myers was given a match penalty, as well, with each of the other skaters on the ice receiving a minor penalty for roughing.

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JANVIER 19 \| 281 ANSWERS Oilers' Connor McDavid Faces Suspension With Automatic Hearing For Vicious Cross-Check Will Connor McDavid get at the very least one game suspension?
Yes	204	72.6 %
No	77	27.4 %
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