Knights' Whitecloud injures Leafs' Knies with high hit

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud leveled Matthew Knies and forced the Toronto Maple Leafs forward to leave their game in the second period Wednesday night.

The officials initially gave Whitecloud a five-minute major but rescinded it entirely upon review and instead gave him two minutes for roughing Maple Leafs blue-liner Simon Benoit in the ensuing melee. Benoit got four minutes for roughing, giving Vegas a power play.

Knies didn't play the rest of the period, and the club ruled him out for the rest of the night at the start of the third.

Toronto head coach Craig Berube didn't have an update on the winger postgame and stopped short of criticizing the officials or the NHL crew that reviewed the call.

"My view of the hit ... it's a tough call," Berube told the media, including Sportsnet. "I'm not going to sit here and comment on the league. They thought it was a clean hit, so it's a clean hit. There's nothing we can comment on, really there's nothing to say."

Tempers continued to flare as the game went on.

The Maple Leafs were already missing a half-dozen forwards. They're without Auston Matthews, Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok, Max Pacioretty, and David Kampf due to injuries, plus Ryan Reaves due to suspension.

Toronto went on to win the contest 3-0, improving to 12-6-2 on the season.