Vatrano cross-checks Kostin and gets knocked down with a left hook

[Boo Boo]

Only penalty should go against Vatrano. No penalty for defending yourself

To be clear the cross check was a response to kostin running a fly by elbow to Vatrano face a half second earlier so the cross check was Vatrano defending himself

 

[BLNY]

I'll take "shit that doesn't happen if the benches are on opposite sides of the ice for $200."

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

This year Cousins?

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Street justice.

Don't know how dumb you can be to cross check someone and then not expect to get popped for it?

I would expect to be cross checked back, not punched in the face

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Good stuff from Kostin, embarrassing dive by Vatrano

 

[The Macho King]

I would expect to be cross checked back, not punched in the face

Then you are going to get dropped.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Then you are going to get dropped.

You shouldn’t just be able to punch someone in the face, even in hockey, unless the gloves are off and you’re squaring up

 

[The Macho King]

You shouldn’t just be able to punch someone in the face, even in hockey, unless the gloves are off and you’re squaring up

That's f***ing dumb. Act like a rat and you should expect to get popped.

This idiotic "code" is childish nonsense. Hey I hit you with my stick how dare you punch me! You must also hit me with your stick!

 

[tny760]

Don't think it was embellished at all. He caught a player much smaller than him and who wasn't expecting a gloved punch to the jaw in that situation.

yeah you don't go airborne with both knees bent back when you get punched.. outside of the movies that is

 

[Soul Assumption]

I would expect to be cross checked back, not punched in the face

I would rather be punched in the face than hit with a stick.

 

[Anglesmith]

Street justice.

Don't know how dumb you can be to cross check someone and then not expect to get popped for it?

Unless it's McDavid, according to the hockey community last year.

 

[CanadienShark]

Totally deserved it.

 

[Anglesmith]

So the full sequence is elbow-crosscheck-sucker punch, which clearly makes Vatrano the victim here especially with the refs apparently missing the first infraction.

Pretty amazing how a cropping of the sequence has people falling hook, line and sinker for the opposite narrative.

 

[Stealth1616]

That honestly looks like a massive dive

 

[josra33]

I’d be embarrassed to be Vatrano for that embellishment. That’s soccer level… why did his legs crumble like that from a hit to the chin?

 

[Vinegar Strokes]

That's f***ing dumb. Act like a rat and you should expect to get popped.

This idiotic "code" is childish nonsense. Hey I hit you with my stick how dare you punch me! You must also hit me with your stick!

But it was Kostin that acted like the rat, threw an elbow/chicken wing up high on Vatrano. The crosscheck was retaliation.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Pow! Right in the kisser

 

[Fatass]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1845302053255438802

That was a rat move dive. Good he got two as well.

You shouldn’t just be able to punch someone in the face, even in hockey, unless the gloves are off and you’re squaring up

Yes, bare knuckle punches to the head are so much safer than having gloves on.

 

[ohcomeonref]

So the full sequence is elbow-crosscheck-sucker punch, which clearly makes Vatrano the victim here especially with the refs apparently missing the first infraction.

Pretty amazing how a cropping of the sequence has people falling hook, line and sinker for the opposite narrative.

Even more amazing us how most in the thread won't do a tiny amount of reading to see how stupid their takes are.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I would rather be punched in the face than hit with a stick.

In the face yeah, but he just gave him a light shot in the arm

 

[Sol]

Kostin a well known cheap shot artist

Interesting when you consider that fact that Vatrano specializes in being a rat.

Rat met exterminator.

You shouldn’t just be able to punch someone in the face, even in hockey, unless the gloves are off and you’re squaring up

there’s a lot of things in hockey that you shouldn’t be able to do, and cross checking is one of them.

Every action will have an equal reaction

 

[EXTRAS]

I feel like a lot of folks sharing this sentiment would still be down if they took an unexpected shot on the chin from Kostin.

Crap call by the refs as well. The elbow from Kostin and retaliation crosscheck from Vatrano should have been off setting minors. Then the sucker punch should be another at least 2 + 10. To make Vatrano out to be equally guilty out of the whole sequence is just nuts.

"Sucker punch" omg vatrano crosschecks him and kostin turns around and punches him in the face. Least sucker punch ever.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

"Sucker punch" omg vatrano crosschecks him and kostin turns around and punches him in the face. Least sucker punch ever.

Any time you punch someone without a challenge to a fight, in hockey that is considered a sucker punch. If every cross check in a hockey game was an invitation to turn around and punch someone, we would see it dozens of times per game and this thread wouldn't exist.

It's already been pointed out by numerous posters but many of you seem to be duped by the thread title and SJ broadcast in the clip into thinking Kostin was just innocently on his way to the bench before being cross checked. If you actually watch the full clip, he chicken wing elbows Vatrano in the side of the head on the way by, which more than earned a cross check in return. He threw a cheap shot, took a cross check in retaliation and then threw a sucker punch with no invitation to fight. Punk move on Kostin's part

 

[robertmac43]

He buckled so easily there lol

 

[Officer1473]

Punched him right in his landing gear switch.