Zack Kassian ejected after snapping and ragdolling Matthew Tkachuk.

Kassian goes off on Tkachuk.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Zack Kassian ejected after snapping and ragdolling Matthew Tkachuk.

There is a reason a certain type of player in the National Hockey League receives the "agitator" label and perhaps there is no player in the modern NHL that exemplifies that role better than Calgary Flames star forward Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk has ben a force to reckon with since he first set foot out onto the NHL playing surface, so much so that many have wondered what it would have been like for the Vancouver Canucks or Edmonton Oilers to draft him, two teams that chose to go a different way on the draft board. 

Well on Saturday night Tkachuk got to face off against one of those teams when his Calgary Flames faced off against the Edmonton Oilers in a rivalry matchup that is simply known as "The Battle of Alberta." The two teams are bitter rivals, however in recent years the rivalry has been diminished by the fact that one of these two teams is usually out of playoffs when they go head to head. That was not the case on Saturday and instead of one team effectively being out of the race, both teams were battling for the top spot in their division.

The game very much had a playoff atmosphere and it is an atmosphere that will likely carry over into their next meeting just later this month. Late in the second period with the game all tied up at 3 goals a piece the Flames got some serious momentum courtesy of the aforementioned Tkachuk when he absolutely destroyed Oilers enforcer Zack Kassian with a monstrous hit behind the goal line. The hit completely leveled the Oilers big man and even sent his helmet flying across the ice, this in spite of the fact that it appeared to be a clean, shoulder to shoulder, hit from Tkachuk. Clean or not Kassian was not about to take that laying down however, and he snapped on Tkachuk immediately following the hit. 

The enraged Kassian pummeled Tkachuk in the head with some ferocious punches and given the damage that was visible on Tkachuk's forehead after the fact I think it is safe to say that many of those heavy bombs found their mark. To his credit though Tkachuk remained calm and effectively secured a huge powerplay for his team in the process, all the while sending Kassian back to the locker room. This one is far from over ladies and gentlemen.


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