Connor McDavid breaks silence on bizarre referee call he's never seen before

Vasily Podkolzin stepped up for his captain on Thursday night and walked away with the heavier punishment, thanks to a call hockey fans rarely hear.

The Edmonton winger fought Anaheim defenseman Drew Helleson after a hard hit on McDavid, and the referee labeled it a one-man fight. The Ducks went on to win 5-4.

The moment sparked plenty of reaction online.

Midway through the first period, McDavid drove hard to the net and Helleson sent him into the cage.

McDavid took a moment to get to his feet and let Helleson know how he felt about the play.

Podkolzin read the situation and dropped the gloves.

The penalty sheet was lopsided. Podkolzin received two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and a ten-minute game misconduct.

Helleson got two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Fights almost always involve two willing participants, which is why this call turned heads.

McDavid himself said he had never seen it before.

The label suggests the officials saw only one player actually fighting, so Podkolzin alone was assessed the fighting major.

It is also a different outcome from January, when Podkolzin fought Jonathan Kovacevic of the Devils after another hit on McDavid.

That fight was accepted by both players, yet he still left with 17 penalty minutes because of the instigator rule.

The cost was real. The instigator minor meant the Oilers had to kill a penalty, and the misconduct ended Podkolzin's night, leaving Edmonton a forward short for the rest of the game.

For a team that lost by a single goal, that matters.

Still, the message inside the dressing room was clear.

McDavid kept producing after the hit, and Podkolzin has now shown twice that he is willing to answer for the captain, regardless of the penalty minutes.

The league may need to clarify how often a one-man fight call should come into play, because the line between instigating and defending a teammate is already thin.

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