The incident occurred after McDavid and Garland became entangled in the high slot for about 15 seconds. Frustration boiled over as McDavid wrestled free and delivered a "brutal cross-check," as described by one of the Sportsnet game announcers, that struck Garland in the head, sending him to the ice.

Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will receive an automatic hearing from NHL Player Safety after a hard cross check against Connor Garland, and an ejection from the game against the Canucks.

The captain was assessed a match penalty for the incident, which comes with an automatic suspension pending a review by the commissioner.

Saturday night’s hockey game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks ended in a 3-2 win for the Canucks. It was a win the Canucks needed and a loss the Oilers likely didn’t expect.

A pair of cross-checks have landed Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers in hot water with the National Hockey League. What led to the incidents that landed both match penalties — and subsequent automatic hearings with the NHL — happened in the final seconds of Saturday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.