Avalanche fans shatter glass behind Kings bench after save on penalty shot, causing lengthy delay in playoff game

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood came up with a clutch save on a penalty shot Tuesday night, and fans in Denver got a little too excited.

Those behind the visiting Kings bench celebrated by shoving on the protective glass separating fans from the ice. One pane shattered, and shards of glass poured onto the Kings bench, hitting coach D.J. Smith, his assistants and some Kings players in the process.

Advertisement

Players and coaches understandably, immediately exited the bench area for the ice. Nobody appeared to get hurt.

But the shattered glass caused a lengthy delay just minutes into the second period of a scoreless playoff game in a series Colorado led, 1-0. The incident happened with 16:48 remaining in the period.

A crew spent roughly 17 minutes cleaning up the glass from the ice and the bench area and replacing the broken glass with a new pane.

During the delay, ESPN interviewed Avalanche veteran Gabriel Landeskog. He said that he’d never seen that happen in 11-plus seasons of playing in the NHL

“Never there,” Landeskog said. “You’ve seen it from slapshots and maybe hard hits in the corners, things like that. Never like that.

Advertisement

“It was loud there when Wedgie made that stop. And fans got a little too excited, maybe.”

Kings players returned to their bench after the cleanup, and play resumed after what added up to a bonus intermission.

So what prompted the ruckus?

Prior to the chaos, Colorado’s Cale Makar was penalized for hooking Quinton Byfield on a breakaway near the goal. Officials awarded Byfield with a penalty shot and a chance to take a 1-0 lead for the Kings.

Byfield appeared to have Wedgewood beat on the penalty shot, but Wedgewood adjusted at the last second to secure the save and maintain the scoreless tie.

The Colorado crowd liked what it saw, and, well, you know what happened next.