Edmonton Oilers’ Mattias Ekholm argues non-call on dangerous boarding….

Raffa Nad
The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t escape Rogers Place with their four-game win streak in tact Saturday, but Jack Eichel managed to get away with one.

With three-and-a-half minutes left in the second period of a game the won 6-3, the Golden Knights centre was chasing the puck into the corner alongside Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who found himself on the wrong end of a dangerous cross-check that sent the six-foot-five Swede precariously into the boards.

Ekholm barely had a chance to get his hands — still clutching his stick after having taken a swipe at the bouncing puck — up to absorb the blow as his helmet appeared to make first contact, while the rest of his body made an abrupt stop.

Play was stopped as the expected scrum ensued, with Ekholm reaching into the crowd to share some choice words while face-washing Eichel with a gloved hand, as fellow Golden Knights forward Mark Stone came to his defence.

Adding insult to injury, as the dust settled and the scene of the crime cleared out, no penalty was called and the puck — despite the play ending to the right of Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, well in Edmonton’s zone — was dropped at centre ice, instead of the dot either inside or outside of the nearest blue line.

 

A puzzled Ekholm was left pleading his case with referee Francis Charron.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory. But the explanation I got from him was he didn’t think the cross-check was that forceful,” Ekholm said. “Obviously, I think it’s a penalty. If I were to do that to somebody and get two minutes I wouldn’t say a word about it.

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