WATCH : Matt Dumba’s VICIOUS hit on Joe Pavelski sends forward crashing on ice in Game 1, NHL Twitter reacts
NHL Twitter goes into a frenzy following Matt Dumba’s vicious hit on Stars forward Joe Pavelski during Game 1 of the playoffs.
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Joe Pavelski hit by Matt Dumba [Image Credit: Dallas Morning News]
The Stanley Cup season is only a day old and NHL Twitter is already reaching its boiling point. During Game 1 of the playoffs between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars, an accident took turn for the worse. The clash between two alternate captains resulted in Stars forward Joe Pavelski being sent to the injured list.
The incident took place during the 2nd period of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Monday night. Pavelski had just fired off a backhanded shot when Stars defenceman Matt Dumba closed in for a shoulder-to-shoulder collision. Following their contact, Dumba struck his stick on Pavelski’s face, sending both players flying on the ice.
The only vicious difference was Pavelski falling on the ice head first. The scene horrified the fans present in the arena both Stars and Wild alike. Social media slammed the Wilds player for his actions, as an injury on the head early in the playoff contention is a serious matter.
Matt Dumba assessed with penalty following devastating hit on Joe Pavelski
![Joe Pavelski hit by Matt Dumba [Image Credit: Yahoo News]](https://firstsportz.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Untitled-design-12-20-1024x768.png)
Joe Pavelski lay still on the ice following the hit, as Stars staff members rushed to the floor for emergency medical assistance. Undoubtedly, a scrum broke on ice involving Stars winger Max Domi and Wilds defenceman Matt Dumba.
The fight was stopped midway as NHL officials and Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov came in between the two. Although at first Matt Dumba was assessed a 5-minute major, he was later 2-minute misdemeanor roughing penalty. This is not the first time Pavelski suffered from a head injury so the situation is highly concerning.
Wild coach Dean Evason stated, “It’s a body check. Obviously the refs saw it correctly. We saw it. The stick hit him in the head. Unfortunately it got him in the chin”. “Yeah, you never like to see anybody get hurt. We want to be physical for sure and we’re going to continue to do that.”
The Wilds took a 3-2 lead to defeat the Stars in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. On the other hand, the Boston Bruins handed a loss to Florida Panthers. The Bruins played without their captain Patrice Bergeron as is yet unsure if the captain will join the playoff race midway. With just a day into the playoff race, NHL arenas have been heating up.
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Kaushani Chatterjee
(2147 Articles Published)