Stamkos slams Canucks after controversial game

In case you missed it, things got ugly between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night and almost all of it stemmed from an ugly head shot delivered by Lightning forward Danick Martel on Canucks defenseman Troy Stecher.

Martel received just a two minute interference minor for blatantly hitting Stecher in the head, which obviously, the Canucks did not take too kindly too. From there the rest of the second period was pretty much a free for all with Jake Virtanen and Erik Gudbranson both absolutely mugging Martel on the next shift.

Here’s the hit:

Here’s Gudbranson sucker punching Martel:

From there, things only got more heated as Lightning forward Cedric Paquette took a run at Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson. Brock Boeser took exception to the hit and tried to get Paquette in a head lock, eventually Ben Hutton came in and took Paquette down to the ice in what ended up being a HUGE Battle Royale. Check it out:

The Lightning would go on to win the game, but at the very least the young Canucks can take a moral victory on this one. Afterward though, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos wasn’t done with the Canucks though as he slammed the organization for having the worst ice in the NHL… a big statement coming from someone who plays the majority of his games in Florida.

Check it out:

Suffice it to say, it’s too bad that these two teams only play once a year. There’s the beginning of a nice little rivalry here from opposite sides of the continent.