McDavid handed match penalty after late scuffle in loss to Canucks

Oilers captain Connor McDavid was handed a match penalty for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland up high at the end of Edmonton's 3-2 loss on Saturday night.

The play will be subject to an automatic review by the league.

With the Oilers pushing to tie the game, a frustrated McDavid retaliated after being pinned down by Garland, who avoided a penalty.

"He's a passionate guy, he's a good dude," Garland said postgame of McDavid, according to Noah Strang of Offside. "Everybody has the fire in their belly trying to win a hockey game so that's stuff that happens."

"There's a rivalry. Connor gets frustrated," Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch added, according to Jamie Umbach of NHL.com. "He gets his stick up and he's frustrated, because we're down one goal and the best player in the league is getting held for 15 seconds. There's frustration that that's allowed to happen, and his stick got up. So that's what happened."

Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers was also handed a match penalty after cross-checking Oilers rearguard Evan Bouchard in the ensuing scrum.

According to Rule 21 of the NHL's handbook, "A match penalty shall be imposed on any player who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner." The player will also be held out of further competition until the league makes its ruling.

McDavid also fell into some hot water Wednesday after he caught Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson up high with his elbow, though the superstar avoided supplemental discipline on the play.

The 28-year-old McDavid was suspended for two games in 2019 for an illegal check to the head of Nick Leddy. Myers, meanwhile, has two career suspensions: He got three games for boarding in 2012 and another three for a hit to the head in 2014.