Flames Defenseman Crushes Sharks Forward With Big Open Ice Hit

Tempers boiled over in the first period between the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks after a big hit from Brayden Pachal.

In the first period of the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks game at SAP Center, Flames defenseman Brayden Pachal laid a crushing hit on Sharks forward Carl Grundstrom. 

Immediately following the hit, the Sharks came to the aid of their fallen teammate, who left the bench with a cut on his cheek. Nico Sturm sent the Flames to the power play with a cross-checking penalty before dropping the gloves with Pachal.

As they wrestled along the boards, there was no clear-cut winner of the tilt because no one could land any punches. 

Meanwhile, Calgary didn't score on their powerplay opportunity of the night. Still, they maintain a 1-0 lead after Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring at 4:40 with assists from MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri.