NHL looking into Senators shooting pucks at Stolarz in warmup
Published
The NHL is looking at an incident that took place in warmups prior to Game 3 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports.
Citing a source, Dreger writes the incident in question is Senators players "firing pucks" at Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz in warmup. Dreger notes it's unclear whether league discipline will follow.
Nick Cousins is alleged to have taken the shots on Stolarz, a former teammate from their time with the Florida Panthers. Senators head coach Travis Green said Friday he had spoken to Cousins about the incident.
"(It’s) a game within the game, happens probably a lot more than you think," Green said of what took place.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube also downplayed the incident.
"I don't think it's anything," Berube told reporters Friday afternoon.
Senators forward David Perron said he Friday he had not seen the video of what of took place.
"We're going to have to bring back HD for the warmup too," Perron told reporters. "I'm from the days where there was only 10 games in HD when I started my career. It sounds like we need to update the quality of video in warmup."
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that he saw some pucks being lobbed by the Senators during warmups, with Tim Stützle stopping a lobbed puck at one point near centre ice. While he found the incident odd, Garrioch adds he did not witness anything else that was unusual.
The Maple Leafs defeated the Senators 3-2 in overtime in Game 3, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
Thursday's game was the first playoff game in Ottawa since 2017.
Game 4 will go Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa with Toronto aiming to advance to the second round of the playoffs.