The Carolina Hurricanes were looking to put away the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon, and boy, were the Sens not willing to go down without a fight.
Or, in this case, one heck of a cheap shot.
The Senators are a team that has no problem with mixing it up, and that can be a good skill set in the postseason. I mean, the Florida Panthers just won back-to-back Cups doing it.
However, you’ve got to make sure you don’t cross the line, and Senators forward Ridly Greig did just that.
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First, Greig had a hand in ramping up the intensity in Game 4 when he ran over Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen.
That’s a slam-dunk, no-question-about-it penalty, and while it’s not classy, it’s not outside the scope of what you’ll see in the playoffs — especially in an elimination game.
However, that animosity boiled over later in the period, and that’s when Greig dropped one of the dirtiest moves I think I’ve seen all season.
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Things got completely out of hand, and Greig and teammate Warren Foegele got tied up with Carolina’s Sean Walker.
Foegele got Walker in a headlock, and Greig disengaged… at least momentarily.
Because with Walker tied up, Greig delivered a vicious uppercut straight to his chops.
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Dude… seriously?
That’s about as cheap and as dirty as it gets.
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Believe it or not, out of all of that, there were only three minor penalties, and two of them went to Carolina’s Nic Deslauriers.
So Greig got away with that one on the ice, but he could still be facing a potential suspension and an almost certain fine.
The Senators ended up losing this one 4-2, so their season is over, and the Canes will move on to face the winner of the Flyers-Penguins series, which Philadelphia has a chance to sweep on Saturday night.
But, if Greig is suspended — and I think that was definitely suspension-worthy — he’ll have to serve it at the start of next season.