Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit did what most hockey players would do when one of their teammates gets knocked down: he went right to their defence and went after the opponent who delivered the hit.
In this case, Benoit took issue with Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Zach Whitecloud on Wednesday night for a questionable collision at centre ice which resulted in forward Matthew Knies leaving the game. Benoit saw the play happen right in front of him and immediately took exception to the hit by trying to fight Whitecloud.
Benoit had no regrets for what he did because he felt it was not a good hit given to Knies.
“I think his feet were off the ice when he hit Kniesy right to the head, so I had to go in there and just protect my teammate,” he said via the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby. “It was just not a good hit, (but the officials) aren’t going to go back on their call. You never really know what they’re going to call. You just react.”
The combination of the questionable hit, Benoit’s response, and the lack of a major penalty on the play to Whitecloud resulted in the physicality being ramped up throughout the game. The game turned scrappy pretty quickly with numerous skirmishes after whistles, including John Tavares shoving Alexander Holtz to the ice in a wrestling match.
Emotions were clearly running high on the Leafs’ bench and while it would have been easy for them to let it get off their game, they used it as fuel to up their intensity and pull off a character win against a recent Stanley Cup winner.
“It’s not a good thing that he’s hurt, but it definitely sparks some energy with the team,” Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll said after the game about the injury. “I think sometimes anger and those things can be used to drive you through a game. So, I was just happy to see us shut him down after something like that.”
“It’s energy for sure. I was pretty pissed after it, so I tried to harness that as well as I could.”
Toronto is still awaiting an official update on Knies’ status. Knies suffered a concussion during the 2023 playoffs on a hit from Florida’s Sam Bennett, and the hope is that he avoided another concussion.
Head coach Craig Berube felt that the Whitecloud hit was clean with a tough outcome, but the main thing is that he gets the sense that Knies will be fine.
“Not bad. I mean, still being evaluated and looked at, but actually feeling OK today, which is good news,” Berube said.
Toronto resumes its schedule Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club, but at the time of this filing, it is unclear if Knies will be playing in that game. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Leafs elect to let Knies rest, regardless of the injury designation.
