Matt Roy is one of the most even-tempered players in the NHL, but on Wednesday night, the veteran defenseman found himself in some rare penalty trouble during the Washington Capitals‘ 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Roy took back-to-back penalties eight seconds apart in the third period, briefly putting the Capitals in a stressful situation.
Roy first found himself in the penalty box after receiving a roughing minor for punching Flyers rookie forward Porter Martone twice in the head near the end boards. Martone appeared to sell the second punch, throwing his head forward, which frustrated Roy.
On the telecast, Roy could be seen hitting the penalty-box glass with his stick in ftrustration.
Flyers young star Matvei Michkov scored eight seconds into the power play, narrowing the Capitals’ lead to 3-2 with 10:16 remaining.
The goal sprung Roy out of the penalty box. As he skated back to the Capitals bench, he voiced his displeasure with the officials, earning another two-minute minor — this time for unsportsmanlike conduct (abuse of officials). The penalty sent Philadelphia right back to the power play.
The Capitals would kill that Flyers’ man advantage and then get consecutive goals from Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch to seal the game 5-2.
After the game, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was asked by RMNB’s Katie Adler what led to Roy’s abuse of officials minor.
“He said that he showed him up twice, not once, twice,” Carbery responded.
The penalties for Roy were his first and second minor penalties of the season. Last season, he was whistled for just six minor penalties (12 PIMs) in 79 games, a gentlemanly effort so remarkable that he earned a single fifth-place vote for the Lady Byng Trophy.
Wednesday’s four penalty minutes in an eight-second span meant that Roy accumulated one-third of his entire previous season’s PIMs in a single sequence.
