Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Ryan O’Reilly’s penalty-free season is no more

Colorado Avalanche v Nashville Predators

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 25: Ryan O’Reilly #90 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on March 25, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

Frederick Breedon

Ryan O’Reilly no longer has a clean penalty record this season.

On Saturday night during the Colorado Avalanche’s 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks, O’Reilly picked up his first minor penalty of the season. After playing in 71 consecutive penalty-free games, he was sent off on a minor penalty for playing with a broken stick.

A what?

It’s true. Rule 10.3 of the NHL Rulebook says you cannot use a broken stick to play with and doing so can lead to a two-minute minor penalty. That’s just what happened to O’Reilly at 8:49 of the third period. Fortunately for him, his Avs teammates killed the penalty and went on to beat the Sharks.

As for his Lady Byng Trophy campaign, it likely rages on unless this first penalty was the gateway drug to becoming a goon.

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT