At 13:23 of the second period on Thursday night, New York Rangers forward Artem Anisimov scored a layup that would have made the Knicks proud: Wide open in front of a gaping Tampa net, he received a pass form Michael Del Zotto and converted a shorthanded goal.
If he had been any more wide-open, he could have dropped down and nudged the puck over the line with his nose. Yet despite the ease with which he scored, Anisimov decided to engage in a preposterous celebration.
The Rangers forward grabbed his stick like a rifle, dropped to one knee and fired at the Lightning goal like he was cutting down enemy soldiers on "Call of Duty." (Which, incidentally, Anisimov plays on Xbox.) Here's what happened:
The play drew immediate comparisons to the Teemu Selanne machine gun celebration, and why not: Scoring the fifth goal of your season is completely comparable to setting an NHL record for goals as a rookie, right? Right?
The Lightning didn't take too kindly to Anisimov's one-gun salute, as captain Vinny Lecavalier charged over to Anisimov, where he was met by a few Rangers. And that's when things really got interesting: Steve Downie, sitting on the boards at the Lightning bench, leaps onto the ice to join the melee. He was given a roughing minor and a misconduct.
The rules for players leaving the bench to start or join altercations on the ice are pretty clear. Please recall Sheriff Shanahan banning Jean-Francois Jacques for eight games (three preseason, five regular-season) for leaving the bench to fight Mike Duco. Again: Downie wasn't given a fighting major, but he certainly hopped on the ice from the bench to join the chaos.
Question is: What it technically a line change? The whistle blew. He looked ready to come on for a line change. Could be a tricky one.
When you think "emphatic, brash goal celebration," the name Artem Anisimov doesn't exactly spring to mind. But he's a bit of a character; Henrik Lundqvist said "he's gotten more and more comfortable with everybody … he's kind of quiet but when he says something, it's usually pretty funny."
And what a time for that personality to come out; you know, what with the HBO cameras rolling and all. What a weird coincidence …
UPDATE: Interesting comments from the Rangers after the game, via Rangers Rants.
Said Coach John Tortorella: "You guys all know him, he's a great kid. I don't think he realized what would happen in that type of situation and I don't think that's planned by him to go that far. I don't blame Tampa at all, I'd expect our team to do the same thing. It's a lesson learned pretty quickly."
Said Rangers center Brad Richards, formerly of the Lightning: "Artie won't do that again. He wasn't trying to embarrass anybody. He was celebrating a nice goal but that's what happens in hockey. We'll all move on from that."
Anisimov also apologized to his teammates for the taunt.