San Jose Sharks goalie Alex Stalock tried to be aggressive with his team up 4-3 and just over a minute left in regulation: Catching the puck, tossing it in the air and batting it with his goalie stick, like he was a coach running a Little League infielding drill.
Forward Antoine Roussel of the Dallas Stars saw this, and one thought crossed his mind: Knocking that well-padded gentleman down as he ventured a few feet outside of his crease.
“I went to play the puck and get it out of the zone, and I don’t know if he elbowed me or punched me or what, but I felt it pretty good up high,” said Stalock after the game.
Stalock hit the ice hard. Roussel skated over to the boards and was like “what?” The Sharks and Stars collided in a scrum. Roussel, ever the gentleman, threw a sucker punch at Justin Braun.
Roussel was given a minor for interference against the goalie and a 10-minute misconduct. Stalock, in a cruel twist of fate, was given a minor for sending the puck over the glass of that catch-and-bat play.
Said Lindy Ruff on Roussel’s antics:
“That kid (Roussel) gives me everything, that was just emotion.* We still had the power play.* We pulled our goalie and we still had the power play.* He was laying down blocking shots, he was in front of the net for the power play and he was trying hard.* That was just emotion and you can’t criticize [that].”

Said Todd McLellan on that play:
“What disappoints me is when a guy is vulnerable and being held and he gets punched. That’s the disappointing thing. I don’t think anybody in our league, the 750 players and coaches, want to see that. Not a classy moment.”
The Sharks defeated the Stars, 5-3, overcoming a Tyler Seguin hat trick with two Brent Burns goals in the third period. The Stars are plummeting, now 0-5-2 in their last seven.**