Canucks' Carson Soucy Suspended for Game 4 for Cross-Checking Oilers' Connor McDavid

The Vancouver Canucks will be without defenseman Carson Soucy for Tuesday's Game 4 of their second-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers.

The NHL announced Monday that it suspended Soucy for the upcoming contest because he cross-checked Oilers star Connor McDavid after the final buzzer sounded in Vancouver's 4-3 victory in Sunday's Game 3.

"Soucy and McDavid end up behind the net facing each other," the NHL's video said while explaining the punishment.

"Soucy shoved McDavid, who retaliates with a slash to the leg. Soucy slashes McDavid back and then raises his stick with both hands, draws the stick back and delivers a forceful, high, two-handed cross-check to McDavid that makes direct contact with McDavid's head."

It also said "this play happens well after the game has ended, and it is not a hockey play."

That is why he was suspended even though he argued that Nikita Zadorov's cross-check of McDavid changed the Oilers' star position and contributed to his own cross-check making contact with his opponent's head.

Zadorov was fined for his cross-check.

Soucy has appeared in all nine of Vancouver's postseason games to date and has four assists and a plus-minus tally of plus-three. He has been a stabilizing force in the team's defense and notched two assists in the Canucks' 5-4 home win to open this series.

This takes away some of the momentum on the side of Vancouver, which earned home-ice advantage back with its latest win in Edmonton. That helped make up for the 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2.

Fortunately for the Canucks, they will still have home-ice advantage even if the Oilers tie the series with Soucy sidelined for the upcoming Game 4.

But it will put all the more pressure on Thursday's Game 5 when the series shifts back to Vancouver.