Wayne Simmonds being sent to the penalty box for Unsportsmanlike Conduct during the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Philadelphia Flyers game on January 27th, 2013. Credit: Tasha Meares

There are many words that I could use to describe his actions during the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Philadelphia Flyers game on Sunday. Unfortunately, none of them are polite or professional enough to print.

At any point in the game there was a ref blowing a whistle, I would lay odds that Simmonds was not far behind. His penalty minutes do not accurately reflect the totality of the experience, but those that were in attendance, we know. Whether it was Hedman, Malone, Crombeen, or anyone else for that matter, he was going to let his voice be heard with certain tenacity.

As far as official penalties are concerned, it all started at 7:15 in the first period when Crombeen was called for Holding and Interference. Simmonds’ response landed him with 2 minutes in the box for roughing. A little over 7 minutes later, at 13:51 he was sent to the box once more; this time for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. This opened the door for Teddy Purcell when he needed at Power Play Goal with assists from Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis at 14:34.

The second period was pretty calm on both sides of the ice, with the only two penalties of the period going to Eric Brewer at 3:26 and Steven Stamkos at 17:35, both for Cross Checking.

It wasn’t until 16:52 in the third period that the situation finally came to a boiling point when he was given a 10 minute misconduct penalty, essentially ending his game for the night.

As much as I would like to say that this needs to stop, the more time that the Flyers’ spend a man down is more time that the Lightning Power Play can concentrate on netting goals. So at the end of the day, all is fair in love and war, especially when it involves a Lightning goal.

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