The Vegas Golden Knights were upset with Ryan Graves’ injury-causing hit on Mattias Janmark and went after him during Sunday’s 7-1 Colorado Avalanche victory.
But Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves is looking at the possibility of a suspension after he was ejected in the third period for punching Graves in the back of the head, throwing him to the ice and going after him while he was down.
Reaves received a double minor for roughing and a match penalty. That means an automatic review of his actions by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
Graves was down on the ice for several minutes, but was able to skate to the dressing room.
“Reaves is on a mission to go out and hurt somebody in the third (period), and that’s what he goes out and does,” said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog.
Reaves was suspended one game for a hit to the head in last year’s playoffs and was suspended for three games for boarding in 2016.
Janmark, who scored a hat trick for the Golden Knights in their Game 7 victory against the Minnesota Wild, didn’t return to the game after he was hit by Graves in the second period.
Graves received a two-minute minor for interference on the play.
Vegas coach Peter DeBoer called that hit dirty and said he had no update on Janmark.
“It’s hard not to carry that emotion through the rest of the game,” he said.
The incidents marred a dominant win by the rested Avalanche, who had swept the St. Louis Blues in the first round.
Goalie Robin Lehner was a surprise starter for Vegas after DeBoer opted to rest Marc-Andre Fleury, who had started all seven games against Minnesota. Lehner made his first start since May 10.
The line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen scored five goals, and defenseman Cale Makar had a four-point game.
“There’s a lot of things we need to improve going forward, and we’re fortunate to have two days between games here,” said Golden Knights captain Mark Stone.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Golden Knights’ Ryan Reaves ejected for going after Ryan Graves
