Mantha drills Giroux's head into the boards during Saturday's match up.

Ugly looking play.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Mantha drills Giroux's head into the boards during Saturday's match up.

You hate to see this happen and you hate to see it happen even more so when it is a complete unnecessary play made against an elite level player in the National Hockey League.

On Saturday the Philadelphia Flyers faced off against the Detroit Red Wings and early on it looked like the Flyers would cruise to an easy win over one of the NHL's struggling franchises this season. The Flyers built up a large lead early on in the game but the Red Wings would not go quietly into the night on Saturday, instead clawing their way back from a massive deficit to force the eventual overtime frame. That overtime however likely should have never happened. 

You see the last goal for the Red Wings in regulation also happened to be the game tying goal and it came with just 7 seconds left remaining on the clock in the game's final period. That goal was scored by Detroit Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha but the outrage that followed that goal stems entirely from the fact that many in the Flyers fan base felt Mantha should not have been out on the ice at all that late in the game.

Prior to the 4th and final goal from the Red Wings Mantha had been involved in a rather dirty play made against Philadelphia Flyers star forward Claude Giroux. Giroux and Mantha had been engaged in a battle along the boards when Giroux lost his balance during the battle and fell to his knees. What followed was an extremely careless and extremely violent play from Mantha that can really only be categorized as a blatant dirty play. 

The young Red Wings forward saw a vulnerable Giroux on the ground and perhaps out of frustration, or without thinking of the consequences, proceeded to drill Giroux's head firmly into the end boards. There's no debating whether or not this was a dirty hit, the only debate seems to be around the fact that some are calling this a crosscheck to the head while others view it merely as a stiff shove. Whatever side of the argument you fall on however I think it's safe to say that this play was entirely uncalled for. 

Some of the Flyers players have already indicated that there will be revenge due when the two teams face off again tomorrow, although I'm not entirely sure Mantha will make it to that game as this could very well lead to him being suspended.

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