Something tells us when the Flyers meet Buffalo for the
final time this season on April 13, somebody gonna throw down. The Sabres took
exception to a violent hit Wayne Simmonds delivered to Tyler Ennis in the first
period of Sunday night’s action, and they never appeared to feel as though the
score had been settled.
Probably because it wasn’t. Mike Weber arrived on the scene
shortly thereafter, and while he receives an A for effort, the Buffalo defenseman
gets absolutely tagged for his trouble. Have a look:
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For what it’s worth, no penalty was levied against Simmonds
for the hit on Ennis, who would be unable to return. Replay showed Ennis turned
toward the boards as Simmer closed in, leaving himself vulnerable when the hit
arrived. A dangerous play to be sure, but there was no intent to injure, and
the no-call was seemed justified.
Besides the KO, Weber received a two-minute minor for
instigating, along with a 10-minute misconduct. The zebras tried to prevent
tempers from flaring further, later throwing John Scott off the ice for another
misconduct as he tried to provoke Zac Rinaldo before a faceoff.
Needless to say, the Sabres were not thrilled about any of these developments. Steve Ott was
among the white sweaters chirping on the ice most, and he and teammates were still
unhappy once the game had ended.
“That really hurt us when Webby
gets an instigating penalty for asking somebody to fight who had just
demolished somebody else in the numbers,” said Steve Ott.
News
“They thought they made the right
call on it,” captain Jason Pominville said incredulously. “It was a push. It
wasn’t a hit. That’s what the guy next to the hit told me. It’s tough. You lose
one of your top centers, one of your most creative players offensively, out of
a hit we feel wasn’t right.”
As if all that wasn’t enough, Luke Schenn drilled tiny
Nathan Gerbe into the boards late in the third period, this time drawing an
obvious whistle. Gerbe would be okay, but he was none too pleased either, attempting to give Claude Giroux the business during a scrum in the final
minutes.
The refs
did a good job of not letting things get out of control this time around, while the closeness of
the game probably prevented additional fisticuffs toward the end of the
contest. No way either side is simply going to forget about this one though, no matter
where either club is in the standings once the rematch rolls around.
Mark your calendar.
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