from Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants,
McDonagh suffered a concussion when he was hit by the Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds with a gloved punch to his jaw at 10:36 of the first period of the Rangers’ 3-2 shootout win at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. Simmonds received a match penalty and a game misconduct.
But coach Alain Vigneault was livid that the NHL did not issue supplemental discipline, either for the “sucker-punch” or for Simmonds throwing his stick towards the on-ice officials.
“I had a feeling he had a concussion,” Vigneault said. “We weren’t 100 percent sure. He had some symptoms.
“What I didn’t expect was the reaction from the league. An All-Star player gets sucker-punched, goes down. I wonder if that’s (Sidney) Crosby, what happens? What are the consequences? And, on top of that, a player breaks his stick, throws it at the referees. In the rulebook, that’s automatic. It’s three games. Nothingg happens. It’s not even on the sheet after the game.
“And the referee came to me and I said, ‘Am I getting a power play here?’ and he said, ‘No, he’s getting a game misconduct for throwing his stick at us,’” Vigneault continued. “And it’s not on the sheet. I think maybe you guys (the media) should call the league and find out what happened because obviously we’re getting different answers.”
If you want to review the play, watch below.
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