The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames engaged in a wild first-period brawl Saturday night which later carried over to Canucks coach John Tortorella being involved in an alternation in the hallway outside of the Flames’ dressing room.
The opening minutes of the NHL game, which the Canucks won 3-2 in a shootout, was like a scene from the movie “Slap Shot.”
It brought back memories of when teams such as the Broad Street Bullies and Big Bad Boston Bruins hit the ice.
Involved in the brawl on the Vancouver Canucks’ side were Rome native, Tom Sestito, who received 27 penalty minutes after a fight during a game just five days prior, as well as recent Utica Comets call-up, Kellan Lain, who ended his NHL debut just two seconds into it, after being ejected as a result of his involvement.
Both players received 5 minute major penalties for fighting, 10 minute misconduct penalties, and Lain was tossed out of the game before it even had a chance to begin.
The entire ordeal resulted in a total of 8 ejections, and 142 total penalty minutes between the two teams.
The game continued with depleted benches for both sides, and the Canucks ended up winning the game 3-2, in a shootout.
Agencies/Canadajournal