Ryan Reaves faces suspension, ‘on a mission to hurt somebody’

DENVER — The Golden Knights suffered their largest loss of the season in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.

That might be only the beginning of the fallout from the 7-1 defeat Sunday at Ball Arena.

Tempers erupted after left wing Mattias Janmark, who lifted the Knights into the second round with a hat trick in Game 7 against the Minnesota Wild, left in the second period after a hit from Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves.

Four players went to the penalty box — two from each team — after Max Pacioretty hit Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard 3:47 into the third period. Then right wing Ryan Reaves was given a match penalty for going after Graves following a whistle with 11:56 remaining.

Four players — two on each team — were given 10-minute misconduct penalties in the aftermath of the play. It resulted in a nine-minute power play for the Avalanche, and defenseman Cale Makar scored.

Reaves could miss time for his match penalty. The NHL rulebook states “in addition to the match penalty, the player shall be automatically suspended from further competition until the commissioner has ruled on the issue.”

“Reaves is on a mission to hurt somebody in the third, and that’s what he does,” Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said.

Janmark, acquired at the trade deadline, was hit in the corner of the offensive zone by Graves with 11:37 remaining in the second period. Janmark, who didn’t have the puck, didn’t appear to see the hit coming and was struck in the face by Graves’ shoulder.

Graves received an interference penalty. Janmark was face down on the ice for several seconds before being assisted to the bench. He went to the locker room and did not return.

Captain Mark Stone said the Knights “obviously didn’t like the hit” and called it a blindside play they’re trying to get out of hockey. Coach Pete DeBoer didn’t have an update after the game on Janmark.

“For sure the emotions of the game was a result of one of your players carried out with a dirty hit,” DeBoer said. “That’s hard to get past.”

The Avalanche took exception to how the Knights responded. Coach Jared Bednar said he expects the NHL to look at Reaves’ match penalty. Graves was attended to on the ice but returned to the game.

“I didn’t have a problem with the way they played,” Bednar said. “The only play that I really didn’t like was the Reaves play on Graves when he was down. Some were a little high and a little late. I didn’t see anything crazy for playoff time except I didn’t like that play from Reaves.”

Full building

Knights right wing Alex Tuch said he heard general manager Kelly McCrimmon announce Saturday that T-Mobile Arena would return to full capacity for Game 3 and started fist-pumping in his car on the way to the airport.

A crowd of 12,156 attended Game 7 on Friday, approximately 70 percent of capacity. The Knights haven’t had a full building since a March 3, 2020, win over the New Jersey Devils.

“It’s felt like a full building the entire playoffs, and it’s gotten louder and louder each time they’ve increased capacity, so I can’t even imagine what 100 percent is going to feel like,” Tuch said. “It’s been well over a year since we’ve had that, and it’s been over two years or so since we’ve had that in the playoffs.”

Taxi squad

DeBoer said he and McCrimmon have discussed whom they want on the taxi squad after the Silver Knights’ inaugural year ended Saturday.

The Silver Knights lost 3-2 in the final game of their best-of-three Pacific Division final against Bakersfield. DeBoer said the Golden Knights will give the taxi squad players a few days off before calling them in.

“Congratulations to Manny Viveiros and his staff and the Henderson group on a great season,” DeBoer said. “There was a lot of development, a lot of good hockey played down there. We’re excited about a lot of guys down there.”

Bellemare on ex-team

Former Knights center Pierre Edouard-Bellemare said he doesn’t feel extra motivation playing against his old team.

The fourth liner spent two seasons in Las Vegas before signing a two-year deal with Colorado in 2019.

“It’s round two of the playoffs,” Bellemare said. “At this point, I don’t really care who we’re playing against.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.