From the get go, everybody knew this series between the Canucks and Oilers would be extremely intense and would feature an elevated level of emotions.
In the second period's last moment, the Canucks' big defenceman Nikita Zadorov had a golden opportunity to improve his value and laid a massive hit on Evander Kane. Not only was the hit massive, but Big Z sent him directly back to his team's bench:
Nikita Zadorov just hit Evander Kane INTO THE OILERS BENCH 😱
The referees discussed the events and it turned out that Kane held Zadorov's stick. Fortunately enough, the zebras called off-setting minors:
Nikita Zadorov dumps Evander Kane into the bench, but put a bit too much mustard on it and is going to get the gait for roughing.
Zadorov protests that Kane was holding his stick. And the officials call off-setting minors. #Canucks
The Canucks' PR team even took a shot at the Oilers' number 91: