Elliotte Friedman baffled by charging penalty called on $20,500,000 Oilers forward which put Knights on power play

Elliotte Friedman was confused by a charging penalty called on Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane in Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights. The game was already physical as Vegas pushed hard to tie the series 2-2. Edmonton led the series 2-1 going into the game.

The incident happened at 13:03 of the first period, after Adam Henrique made it 2-0 to the Oilers. Kane, who is on a four-year deal worth $20.5 million, was near the net when he was pushed from behind by Brayden McNabb. This caused Kane to fall over goaltender Adin Hill. Hill’s right leg bent under the contact, and three Knights players, including Hill and McNabb, went after Kane.

Despite being pushed, Kane was given a two-minute penalty for charging. The Knights went on the power play but did not score. Elliotte Friedman spoke about the incident on the Sportsnet broadcast.

"I was worried, for his (Adin Hill) sake, that he was going to go on tilt (after Kane fell on him), and he was gonna do something he’d really regret. But he made a huge save at the end of the period." Friedman said.

After that, Hill went after Zach Hyman. Friedman said he supports protecting goalies, but this call didn’t make sense.

"I don't understand, in that one Kane play, how Vegas got the power play out of it," Friedman said. "I still don't get that one.

"Kane got knocked into him by McNabb, and then Hill went after Hyman. I understand we're trying to protect the goalies, and I really believe in protecting the goalies, but how they got a power play out of that one—I have no idea."

Evander Kane returned for the playoffs after two surgeries this season. He had hip and abdominal surgery in September and knee surgery in January. After the 4 Nations Face-Off break, he practiced with the Oilers to get ready.

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Evander Kane scored in Oilers 3-0 shutout Game 4 win

Evander Kane scored a second-period goal at 7:38 minutes with a snap shot. Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard assisted on it. He also received an assist for Adam Henriques' second goal in the first period.

The Oilers outshot Vegas 32-24 to win the game with a 3-0 shutout. They controlled 59.3% of the faceoffs and are now leading the series 3-1 against the Golden Knights. Stuart Skinner has finally shown his standout performance with an impressive shutout by making 24 saves. He had struggled earlier in the playoffs.