Evander Kane rips ref after ejection from Sharks' preseason finale

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When Evander Kane and the Vegas Golden Knights get together, weird things happen.

Last season, Kane's beef with Ryan Reaves dominated headlines. This time, it’s a beef with a ref.

In the Sharks' preseason game Sunday in Vegas, Kane was assessed a game misconduct midway through the third period and ejected for an incident with Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland.

The game officials deemed that Kane abused the officials. As you can see from the video, when the Sharks winger slashed Engelland, he made contact with one of the referees. Moments later, after the ref intervened, Kane can be seen giving a slight shove to the official.

As you might imagine, Kane was not happy with the ejection and ripped into the referee after the game.

"I get kicked out of the game for getting jumped from behind by a referee. I've never seen a ref take five strides," Kane said, via ESPN. "If you look at his face, he's getting all this power and he's trying to drive me into the ice, which is what he did. That's unbelievable.

”Talk about abuse of an official? How about abuse of a player? It's an absolute joke."

Kane went on to put all the blame on the ref.

"I was just skating up the ice. Minding my own business, and next thing you know, I get driven into the ice by one of the officials," Kane said. "I wasn't even engaged with one of their players. Explain that to me, how I get kicked out of the game for that. Baffling."

Kane spent the summer talking about racism in hockey, and he made a comment to ESPN that alludes to what he's been fighting against in the game.

"It's funny ... if you look at the way I get treated out there when it comes to the scrums, or when the other team is trying to do [something] to me, there's a massive difference compared to everybody else on the ice," Kane said.

Earlier this month, Kane addressed his rivalry with Reaves in an interview with NBC Sports California's Brodie Brazil.

“I think it’s great, I think it’s fun,” Kane told Brazil. “I enjoy it -- I’m sure he does, too. I think hockey needs more of that. It creates more entertainment value, more build-up.”

Kane won't be having any fun if the league decides to discipline him for making contact with the ref.

And Kane won't have to wait long to see Reaves, Engelland and the Golden Knights. The two rivals open the NHL regular season in Vegas on Wednesday and in San Jose on Friday.

[RELATED: Watch Kane's first pitch at Giants game]

Get your popcorn ready.

Oh, and in case you care, the Sharks lost 5-1 to the Golden Knights on Sunday and finished the preseason with a 1-5-0 record.

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