Islanders-Panthers nasty scrum leads to seven roughing penalties

Watch closely as Casey Cizikas nails Aaron Ekblad with a shot below the belt during this spirited scrum between the Islanders and Panthers.

It’s night three of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the players are already getting sick of each other.

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Even Pavel Datsyuk got into the rough stuff and lost a tooth! Sacrilege!

Over in the Islanders-Panthers series, their brand of hockey is getting nasty, just the way it should be. Following a whistle in front of Roberto Luongo, a scrum ensued between the two teams — led by who else? The Islanders’ fourth line of Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas. Throw Panthers forward Shawn Thornton in there and you have the right ingredients for a hockey stew.


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All told, there were seven roughing minors handed out after this melee.

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Some thoughts from this beautiful melee:

– Matt Martin has eight arms and will face wash anyone within reach.
– Sportsnet could use a professional lip-reader
– Shawn Thornton has an acting career waiting for him after hockey

Here’s Thornton taunting Clutterbuck after the dust settled:

You may recall that Thornton also gave a reality check to young Islander Ryan Strome last game by grabbing his name plate and asking, “Who?”

The low point of this scrum came when Cizikas punched Aaron Ekblad below the belt — right in front of the referee (video at top). You can’t do that.

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