Pittsburgh Penguins center Blake Lizotte sparked fury on Wednesday night after escaping punishment for ‘spearing’ an opponent on the ice.
During their Game 6 showdown with the Flyers in Philly, Lizotte was first sent crashing into his own goalie by Canadian winger Porter Martone to ignite a wild brawl.
A number of furious Penguins stars took their frustrations out on Martone and his Flyers teammate Owen Tippett, who also appeared to shove Lizotte on his way down.
Despite Martone already being pushed into the billboard and onto the ice by Noel Acciari, Lizotte returned to his feet and made an immediate beeline for him as referees desperately intervened.
And as one official tried his best to keep them apart, he then produced the ‘dirty’ act which left fans seething on social media.
Lizotte left Martone in agony with what looked like a spear – when a player illegally jabs an opponent with the tip of their stick blade – during the melee.
Penguins center Blake Lizotte escaped punishment despite appearing to ‘spear’ an opponent
Yet somehow, the officials failed to penalize him for the violent move.
‘That’s complete BS. You can’t miss an obvious penalty in a big game,’ one fan fumed on X.
Another posted: ‘@NHL spearing is allowed now right?’
A third commented: ‘what a thug’.
‘@NHL you missed it. AGAIN,’ said a fourth.
‘Dirty play by Blake Lizotte,’ wrote a fifth.
While one user even concluded: ‘this is disgusting’.
Spearing typically results in a five-minute major penalty and automatic game misconduct for any player found to have committed the infraction.
Martone and the Flyers headed into the Game 6 battle with a 3-2 lead in the series, meaning a victory in Philly would see them advance to the second round.
Should the Penguins level the series at 3-3, it will all come down to a decisive Game 7 clash in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
