Filmed by a fan in the front row, the video shows Foegele had his legs nearly together, and seemed to make contact mostly with the stick of Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen. It looked far less severe than the angle showed on the broadcast, and from this angle it looks like Foegele shouldn't have been ejected or penalized at all.
Upon closer look of the play, it looks like Foegele is preparing to lay an open ice hit on the dangling Luostarinen, but he tries to dodge the hit at the last second, leaving his feet and stick to his side. Foegele seemed to mostly get tripped up instead of throwing a malicious knee on knee.
On the broadcast, Sportsnet analyst Kevin Bieksa strongly disagreed with the 5 minute major, and argued against the harsh call on Foegele. Bieksa still thought Foegele made knee on knee contact, but it was more incidental than malicious.
Like seems usual with some Panthers players, Luostarinen stayed down on the ice writhing in pain for a few moments. After the penalty was drawn and Foegele was ejected, Luostarinen was back on the ice shortly after. Some Oilers fans are thinking it's a trend from the Panthers players to draw penalties.
Thankfully Luostarinen wasn't actually injured on the play, and he will be available to play in game 3. Upon further review however, Foegele did not deserve anything near a 5 minute major and an ejection, he barely deserved a minor penalty.
Source: @L_Fairy77 on X
New angle of Foegele hitting Luostarinen
POLL | ||
Do you think Foegele deserved to be ejected for the knee on knee collision? | ||
Yes, it was a dirty play | 96 | 16.1 % |
No, it wasn't malicious | 282 | 47.2 % |
He barely even touched him | 195 | 32.7 % |
See Results | 24 | 4 % |
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