The Stanley Cup Playoffs are always a time when fans become especially rowdy, but on Sunday, some Philadelphia Flyers supporters may have gone too far in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
At first, Flyers fans simply honored Sean Couturier by throwing hats onto the ice to celebrate the center’s hat trick (three goals), which trimmed the Penguins’ lead to 7-5 with just under three minutes remaining in Game 6, which Pittsburgh won 8-5.
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However, fans at the Wells Fargo Center soon realized that the Flyers would not win the contest, and sure enough Bryan Rust scored an unassisted empty-net goal with 31 seconds left to seal the Penguins’ victory.
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The Penguins won the first-round series 4-2, and Flyers fans seemed to think the best way to express their anger with their team’s elimination was to throw all sorts of objects onto the ice. Beer cans, bracelets, and other garbage was tossed onto the rink, and several people quickly voiced their disgust with the crowd’s behavior, including players on the Penguins’ roster.
Announcer Lou Nolan also slammed the fans for their actions, as arena personnel came on to clean up the mess they created and so as to avoid players from becoming injured.
Nolan had to repeat to the crowd several times not to toss objects of any kind onto the ice. NBC broadcasters even warned that any fans continuing to do this could be ejected from the venue.
One Penguins beat writer for The Athletic asked Sidney Crosby about the beer cans that began raining down onto the ice, and this is what the veteran player said:
According to USA Today, a towel was even on the ice in front of Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov when he lost the puck to Rust, who then scored his empty-netter in the final seconds.
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The Penguins will face the winner of the series between the Washington Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round. Washington leads the series 3-2, and Game 6 is set for Monday night in Columbus.
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