NHL referee has enough, ejects 10 players at once

Two brothers known for their shenanigans, and the potential for chaos with a lopsided score, led referees for Monday night’s game between the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers to enforce a rare edict.

With the Panthers leading 4-0 in the back half of the third period, a skirmish broke out after Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was stopped on a breakaway.

Tkachuk dragged his skate to hit the pads of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, sparking an angry response from his opponents.

The refs sensed a messy end to the game with the older Tkachuk brother, Matthew, already in the penalty box. He’d gotten under the skin of brother Brady’s teammates.

Senator Zack MacEwen took a run at Matthew and was issued a five-minute match penalty for a check to the head. On Tuesday, he was fined by the NHL for a little more than $2,000. Jake Sanderson also dropped the gloves with Matthew.

10-minute misconduct for everyone

After the scrum sparked by Brady, with just under seven minutes to play, referees pretty much ejected 10 players at once.

“Everybody on the ice has a 10-minute misconduct, among other penalties,” referee Garrett Rank announced over his microphone.

In the crowd, the Tkachuk family including grandmother Geraldine looked on. She was spotted by a TV camera with her head in her hands, disapproving of the donnybrook.

As for the game, Sam Reinhart scored two goals and Bobrovsky made 20 saves as the Panthers won 5-0.

Ottawa struggled early and never managed to get on equal footing with the Panthers. Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots after missing the last two games with a minor injury.