Noel Acciari got driven into a Flyers bench door left ajar tonight in Ottawa, and it wasn't the first scare of the night.
The broadcast shows Acciari, No. 52, finishing the sequence draped over the bench wall, with a teammate in the No. 8 sweater staring right at him.
Gino Hard flagged it with an ALSO in capital letters, and for good reason. It happened at the visiting bench, on the night the Senators played their first home game of the season.
Earlier in the evening, Frank Nazar went barreling toward an open Blackhawks bench door against the Islanders.
Two games, two bench doors, one evening. Somebody in a league office should be making phone calls first thing Friday morning.
It's like leaving the basement door open with a toddler running around the kitchen. Nothing happens, right up until it does.
The 34-year-old Flyers forward has yet to register a point this season and sits at a -3 rating.
Frank Nazar's close call makes it two bench door scares in one night
Nazar came into tonight with a goal and an assist, along with a -4 rating.
Chicago has the 22-year-old on a $6,599,991 cap hit, the kind of contract nobody wants anywhere near a loose hinge.
So who's responsible for making sure that door is shut? Nobody has answered that one yet.
The Blackhawks came into tonight's game at 1-3-0, with Anton Frondell leading the way on 4 points.
The Flyers have bigger problems than door latches. They're 0-2-2 and still chasing their first win of the season.
Oddly enough, the Flyers and Blackhawks both entered the night having allowed exactly 17 goals.
The Islanders came in at 1-2-0, with Bo Horvat already scoring twice on the power play this season.
Rick Tocchet can't afford to lose anyone to something this preventable, not with Boston on Saturday and Carolina on Sunday.
Acciari carries a $2,800,000 cap hit on a team that has scored just 5 goals all season.
The league got lucky twice tonight. Nobody should want to test that luck a third time.
Should the NHL fine teams when a bench door is left open during play?
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