Celebrating a goal right in the area of the opposition’s crease isn’t advised, but celebrating with an opponent is definitely going to get you in hot water.
Over in Sweden, the playoff and relegation stage is underway. Mora finished at the bottom of the SHL with 51 points, meaning they need to beat Leksands of the HockeyAllsvenskan league to avoid dropping down to the second division.
During a game on Wednesday, Mora went on to beat Leksands 3-2. With the game tied at 1-1, Mora was hungry to break the deadlock. One of their players decided to it was a good idea to hug a defender from Leksands after slide the puck into the back of the net.
The Leksands player took exception to this, and ended up punching the player right in kisser.
The defender looked pretty pedestrian on the play by letting the the Mora player have all the time in the world, although we don’t have the full footage to fully determine if it was his fault. Still, you know the Mora player was overly excited for having all that room to score and break the deadlock. While it was a pretty hilarious moment, the Leksands gave the guy a pretty good whack to the face. It’s not quite a sucker punch, but it’s not that far off. The player taking the punch didn't really seem to mind at all, as he just skated away to celebrate with his teammates as if nothing malicious occured.
So, was this a cheap shot or was it fairly deserved? You can understand why the Leksands player would be pissed off. Nobody wants to be congratulated after being scored on, but was the punch really necessary? You be the judge.
(h/t Instagram/ LeksandsTV)
