Stick trade results in minor penalties for Matthews, Merzlikins
Published
Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews was issued a minor penalty, along with Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, when the players used one another's stick in the first period of their game on Wednesday.
The humourous exchange unfolded during a fracas in front of the Columbus net, when Merzlikins reached and ripped Matthews' stick from the star forward's hand, dropping his own in the process while the puck bounced in the area.
Matthews, without a stick and with the puck in the offensive zone, elected to pick up and use Merzlikins' stick for a moment before realizing his mistake, dropping the stick as the referees whistled the play dead.
The penalties continued a trend of heavy referee involvement early in the clash. Toronto took the first power play of the game at 3:26, while Mathieu Olivier and Ryan Reaves took fighting majors at the 1:32 mark - Reaves' first fight of the season.
Matthews went to the penalty box at 6:26 while Dmitri Voronkov served the penalty for the Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets scored the opening goal of the contest when Adam Fantilli scored shorthanded at 15:40 in the first period.