Roman Polak gets physical with linesman after Sharks win

The final moments of the San Jose Sharks’ Game 5 win over the Nashville Predators was a contentious one. 

Barret Jackman jabbed Joe Thornton in the stomach. Thornton gave him a slash to the lower extremities. Ryan Johansen and Mike Ribeiro were given misconduct penalties.

At the end of regulation, Jackman again got into it with the Sharks, and in particular defenseman Roman Polak. The officials, including linesman Greg Devorski, stepped in to break it up. He grabbed Polak by the left shoulder of his jersey and skated him away from the fray.

Polak gave Devorski a stiff shove to his shoulder. Devorski put his hand back on Polak’s jersey. The defenseman swatted it away, prompting Devorski to point at him angrily while admonishing him.

Yikes.

It’s a moment of unhinged rage from Polak, but one that didn’t garner a misconduct penalty from the officials. That’s usually an indication that there won’t be severe repercussions from the NHL, but frankly it would be surprising if Polak isn’t fined for this, at a minimum. 

“We’re in a hard series,” Predators forward James Neal said to The Tennessean. “Of course there’s going to be frustration. We didn’t have our best game, guys are mad, upset. I don’t think there was anything out of the ordinary, so nothing that’s not normal.”

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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