Doughty said goodbye to Kirill
The incident happened late in the second period. Star striker “Minnesota” Kirill Kaprizov rolled along the board. On his shoulders was veteran Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty.
Kaprizov couldn’t stand it, turned around and hit the club, which he gripped tightly with both hands, right in Doughty’s face. Besides, he kissed her with relish, the blow fell from top to bottom.
Referees Trevor Hanson and Kyle Rieman immediately decided it was a penalty game. It is in Russia that they write for such a “5 + 20”. And in the NHL, forward Kaprizov received a five-minute suspension, which was served by Marco Rossi, and sent to the locker room. In principle, it was enough – Kirill himself spent only 10.26 minutes in this game.
Minnesota, having lost the main attacker, failed to score anything. And in the 54th minute, Gabriel Vilardi scored, which scored his 10th goal in this championship. Los Angeles took two points in regulation time, and the Savages were left with nothing.
Doughty also reacted mockingly to Kaprizov’s withdrawal, waving his hand in farewell.
They have old scores
In general, you need to understand why Kaprizov broke like this. This Drew Doughty has been breathing unevenly for the Russian striker for a long time. In October 2021, when Kaprizov had already received the Calder Trophy as the top rookie of the year and signed a new contract – $45 million over five years, Doughty for some reason decided to comment on this:
“The rookie of the year? Did he win Rookie of the Year after just 45 league appearances? I would like to say that Kaprizov was frankly overpaid.
In principle, one can understand where the root of Doughty’s resentment comes from. After all, Kaprizov made his NHL debut just in Los Angeles. And in the first game scored three points, and scored even in overtime. He ran to the goalkeeper and scored, and behind him was just Doughty, who turned out to be in the cold.
Also, Los Angeles usually plays against Minnesota often. This was especially true during the recent championship, which was cut short due to covid. Then the Kings faced the Wild eight times. And now Doughty is just responsible for tutelage of the opponent’s leaders, that is, he constantly opposed Kaprizov.
In other words, they have an old duel. Doughty also pressed Cyril in this match, trying to get under his skin. And now Kaprizov burst.
“Here and three disqualification matches can give Kaprizov”
In general, it should be said right away that a video with the end of this episode, when Kaprizov beats Doughty with a stick, spread widely on the network. But if you watch all this change carefully, you can see that Kaprizov owns the puck, comes out the door. And then Doughty attacks it, knocks it down and sits on it. When Cyril got up, the Los Angeles defender struck him with an imperceptible stab on the sly. Apparently, Doughty got into a sore spot, as the usually restrained Kaprizov reacted that way.
This was noticed by North American hockey fans on Twitter when commenting on the episode posted by Sportsnet.
“Why haven’t you posted all the time? Show what was behind the door when Doughty himself punched Kaprizov three times before and tried to hit him in the face with his helmet.
“Yeah, Kaprizov didn’t even hit Doughty in the face, just the stick slipped off the visor.”
“In general, here Kaprizov can be disqualified. Recently, Evgeny Kuznetsov missed a game due to hitting an opponent in the head with a stick. Rasmussen received two games for a similar blow to Krejci.
“Here, even three disqualification matches can give Kaprizov.”
“This league needs to protect its stars more. Allowing Doughty to beat Kaprizov all night with an elbow and a stick without any punishment is artisanal. The Blues did the same to him in the last playoffs. And no response either.”
In general, Kaprizov’s withdrawal gave rise to quite a discussion. Someone even started advocating for the tough guys back in hockey. If there was a faithful bodyguard next to Cyril on the ice, he would simply rip this Doughty’s head off.
Let’s see how the league reacts after the fact to Kaprizov’s withdrawal. Will he be disqualified?
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
