[UPDATE: Reaves has been suspended one game.]
Officials ejected Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves from Game 7 for an illegal hit to the head on Canucks forward Tyler Motte. On Saturday, the Department of Player Safety announced that Reaves will face a hearing for that hit.
Vegas was forced to kill a five-minute major penalty because of that hit by Reaves. Remarkably, the Golden Knights pulled that off, holding the Canucks to a single shot on goal. Eventually, the Golden Knights beat the Canucks 3-0 in Game 7, with a thinner margin than that indicates. (They scored two shorthanded goals.)
Judge for yourself if this Reaves hit on Motte warranted a game misconduct, and the ensuing five-minute major penalty by watching the video above. While it didn’t cost Vegas that Game 7, it certainly could have.
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
Earlier in this series, Reaves and Antoine Roussel turned heads with some nastiness, but it backfired in Game 7 with this hit on Motte.
As you may recall, the Golden Knights saw Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks spiral out of control during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs after being whistled for a major penalty. We’ll see if there’s supplemental discipline for Reaves after that hit on Motte, and also if the Canucks forward returns during the third period (or beyond?).
This was part of an eventful second period. While there weren’t any goals, Robin Lehner made an incredible save, and Thatcher Demko remained red-hot.
No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 5 Vancouver Canucks (VGK wins 4-3)
Game 1: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 0. (recap)
Game 2: Canucks 5, Golden Knights 2. (recap)
Game 3: Golden Knights 3, Canucks 0. (recap)
Game 4: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 3. (recap)
Game 5: Canucks 2, Golden Knights 1. (recap)
Game 6: Canucks 4, Golden Knights 0. (recap)
Game 7: Golden Knights 3, Canucks 0. (recap)
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.