via flickr/jmgriggs
Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko took a nasty punch to the ribs after play stopped during Saturday's playoff game.
Hockey fans are used to brawls breaking out on the ice, but one punch in particular has St. Louis Blues fans crying foul.
After the Blues beat the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night to tie the NHL Conference Finals 2-2, videos started popping up online of Shark Bret Burns hitting Vladimir Tarasenko, a St. Louis fan favorite and new father who’s in the running to be the face of the NHL 17 video game, square in the ribs.
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The video shows Tarasenko rushing toward the puck with the Sharks’ goalie out of the net after a goal attempt from Robby Fabbri. Tarasenko tumbles over Burns’ stick so hard that this skates fly up behind him and hit the goalie in the helmet. After play stops, with Tarasenko face-down on the ice underneath another Sharks player, Burns pushes himself up off the ice just enough to unleash a hard punch into Tarasenko’s ribcage.
Here’s the video:
And from above:
One more from the side:
The punch appears to go unnoticed by the referee and by TV commentators, who later wonder why the Blues star is favoring his ribs. Hockey fans took to Twitter to ask if anyone else saw the punch:
Even Sharks supporters criticized the punch as a cheap shot:
The Blues play the Sharks for Game 5 tonight at Scottrade Center.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
