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Lucic speaks on collision with Smith

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Colton Pankiw
May 23, 2022  (4:30 PM)
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Despite Connor McDavid putting on a dominating performance once again in the Edmonton Oilers' decisive 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night, plenty of the chatter afterwards was regarding Milan Lucic.

The massive Flames winger received a five-minute game misconduct late in the game for hitting goaltender Mike Smith into the boards after the Oilers' netminder had left his crease to play the puck. While many fans had different reactions to the incident, the general consensus was that it looked much worse originally than on the replay, as it appears that Lucic attempted to slow up before contact was made. He echoed similar sentiments when speaking with the media about it on Monday afternoon.

«I definitely wasn't trying to hit him. I was braking,» Lucic said. «If I actually did charge, we both wouldn't be playing tomorrow.»

The NHL's Department of Player Safety clearly agreed with the fact Lucic's hit wasn't as bad as it originally looked, as they chose to give him no suspension nor a fine. Despite their opinion however, you can bet many Oilers skaters aren't happy about it, which could lead to an even chippier Game 4 on Tuesday.