Game 5 of the series between the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators had some fireworks. Barret Jackman gave Joe Thornton a good whack, and received Jumbo’s stick to his nether regions for the effort. Mike Ribeiro, who returned to the lineup from a pair of healthy scratches, and Ryan Johansen got into it and were handed a pair of misconducts.
Then in the game’s closing moments Jackman and Sharks defenseman Roman Polak got into it.
The officials attempted to calm things down. Linesman linesman Greg Devorski stepped in and grabbed Polak. The former Leaf clearly wanted a to get to Jackman and shoved Devorski for getting in the way. Then, when Devorski grabbed Polak’s jersey, Polak slapped his hand away.
Devorski didn’t issue a misconduct to Polak, though appears to give him a bit of verbal admonishment.
This is the kind of thing that almost always guarantees some kind of fine. It may not have been too dramatic, but officials don’t put up with that. It’d be surprising if Polak didn’t have some sort of slap on the wrist come out of this from the league.
Watch a video of the exchange below.
UPDATE:
Don't expect any punishment for Roman Polak for pushing Greg Devorski.No report filed..Official knows anger was not directed at him.
1/2
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) May 8, 2016
Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.
