Wayne Simmonds accidentally on purpose nails Mark Scheifele after the whistle; ref saves Scheifele's life after he tries to retaliate
As expected, the Leafs and Jets picked up right where they left off last season. There were plenty of post-whistle scrums with both teams spending plenty of time in the box.
To begin the third, the Leafs were up 3-1 and after a save by Ilya Samsonov, the whistle blew and players crowded in front of the Leafs' netminder. One of the players headed towards the Leafs' net was Mark Scheifele. Wayne Simmonds, who made his season debut, accidentally on purpose skated right through Scheifele, nailing him with the shoulder on the way by. Unfortunately, Scheifele sold it and Simmonds got two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
I find it a little strange that some postwhistle scrums can contain plenty of roughhousing and face-washing with no penalties issued. Yet, a simple shoulder nudge on the way by can result in a penalty. Even worse is that Scheifele looked to be in pursuit of Simmonds, delivering a stiff cross-check to the veteran winger. That retaliatory cross-check resulted in nothing for Scheifele.
The one thing that was funny about the exchange though was how quickly the officials intervened to protect Scheifele from Simmonds, who would have absolutely fed the Jets star his breakfast, lunch and dinner.
