Not your typical sleepy Sunday matinee in Brooklyn, as the Canucks and Isles got some bad blood going early in today’s game at Barclays.
With less than two minutes to go in the opening frame, New York forward Mikhail Grabovski was given a five-minue major and game misconduct for boarding Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin:
Five-minutes and a game to Grabovski for this.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 17, 2016
Bartkowski given two minutes, #Canucks have 3-min PP in early 2nd. pic.twitter.com/UxuH26aKCY
There didn’t seem to be much debate about the call, as Grabovski got Sedin in the numbers, with a cross-check, while Sedin was in a fairly vulnerable position. Sedin was shaken up on the play and didn’t skate for the remainder of the period, but was treated by trainers on the bench, as opposed to going to the dressing room.
There was some rough stuff right at the end of the first period, as well. Isles captain John Tavares got into it with Canucks rookie Jared McCann, then Alex Biega and Ryan Strome looked as though they’d fight, only for officials to intervene.
#Canucks Dorsett tells @DTSN1040 on @TSN1040 he saw the entire Grabovski hit on H.Sedin and it was "dirty" #TSN1040 https://t.co/2wGiTf7CfD
— Jon Abbott (@AbbsPxP) January 17, 2016
*Update: Sedin won’t be returning to this one.
With Henrik Sedin not returning vs Islanders, tons of pressure on young Canuck centres Vey, McCann and Horvat.
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) January 17, 2016