Wild Brawl Between Oilers And Flames Ends With Ref Issuing Hilarious Penalty Call

• NHL referee François St. Laurent issued a penalty call for the ages following a massive brawl between the Flames and Oilers in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series
• Milan Lucic sparked the melee after barreling into Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith in the third period
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It appeared the Oilers had managed to suck most of the excitement out of their Game 3 showdown against the Flames on Sunday by the end of the second period, as Edmonton headed into the locker room with 20 minutes remaining sporting a 4-0 lead on the back of a hat trick from Evander Kane.

However, that did not turn out to be the case.

The score remained unchanged as the two teams neared the halfway point of what was set to be a fairly uneventful third. However, that all changed courtesy of Milan Lucic, who was responsible for helping the Battle of Alberta live up to its name by sparking a massive line brawl after crashing into Oilers goalie Mike Smith while pursuing the puck.

Lucic did appear to attempt to pull up prior to the collision, but Edmonton understandably took exception with the hit that resulted in the Calgary forward getting hit with a five-minute major for charging on top of the game misconduct that sent him to the locker room for the rest of the game (Smith was temporarily knocked out of the contest due to concussion protocol, but returned to a roaring ovation a few minutes later).

Lucic was far from the only player to face some disciplinary action as a result of the play. The ensuing melee led to one of the most entertaining box score summaries you’ll ever encounter, as a total of seven guys were sent to the penalty box (including the four who had to pack in Calgary’s).

https://twitter.com/animalsofhockey/status/1528567570416148481

It also led to one of the most entertaining penalty calls you’ll ever encounter in an NHL game courtesy of referee François St. Laurent. After announcing Lucic’s fate, the official decided to save a bit of time by declining to single out the players who’d been sent off for roughing in favor of simply stating “everybody else sitting in the penalty box” was guilty of the infraction.

The Flames did manage to net a largely meaningless goal by the time the final whistle blew, but Edmonton walked away with a 4-1 victory to take a 2-1 lead in a series that will likely feature a few more fireworks by the time it wraps up.