Toronto Maple Leafs winger Kasperi Kapanen submitted an early bid for the top brain cramp of the 2019-20 NHL season on Saturday night.
With his club leading 4-3 and on the penalty kill in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens, Kapanen threw his stick at Jeff Petry after it broke on a shot block.
Throwing your stick - broken or not - at the puck-carrier in the defensive zone results in an automatic penalty shot.
As the player fouled, Petry was then in line to take the freebie and he made no mistake, burying a quick wrist shot behind Michael Hutchinson.
Petry's goal completed the Canadiens' comeback after trailing 4-1, and they went on to win the contest 6-5 in a shootout, moving to 1-0-1 on the season.
Kapanen owned up to the mistake following the game.
"I was out there for a bit and was pretty tired," Kapanen said. "I just blocked that shot and, honestly, I didn't even think I was going to hit him, but just kind of threw my stick that way and hit him so I guess you get a penalty shot for that. I take full responsibility of my actions and they tied it up so, obviously, I feel bad about it.
"I know everybody knows it's a big mistake on my part and if I knew that rule existed or if I thought I was actually going to hit his stick I wouldn't have done that, but, like I said, I take full responsibility."
Kapanen was held pointless with two shots on goal over 18:43 of ice time on Saturday night.
