“I’ll answer your question with a question. Does anyone in this room think if Connor McDavid gets carried off the ice like that, it’s not a 5-minute major?” said a furious Peter DeBoer, while discussing Darnell Nurse’s slash on Roope Hintz’s leg in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. The Edmonton Oilers’ D-man had gotten off easy, in the coach’s opinion, with just a 2-minute minor. The price paid by Hintz, however, was much steeper.

Although the Stars’ center took to the ice for a warm-up session ahead of Game 3, he left the ice early, with the coach saying later that he never looked ready for game time. And when he finally returned for Game 4, things seemed all too familiar for him, this time thanks to Evan Bouchard.

The Oilers took the early lead in the game, and defenseman Evan Bouchard decided to take a shot at the Dallas forward. A clip from Sportsnet caught Bouchard in the act as the Edmonton Oilers’ veteran landed another slashing hit on Hintz as the pair skated toward their respective benches. “There’s Bouchard going in right on the same spot!” said the announcer.

While the 25-year-old didn’t hit Roope Hintz too hard, the surprise hit to his foot made the 28-year-old stumble. Thankfully, that was all that happened, because despite the clearly intentional hit, the Dallas Stars player didn’t respond in kind to Bouchard. Fans, meanwhile, were absolutely livid. “I get playing hard hockey, but I guess sportsmanship isn’t a thing anymore,” one fan commented about the dirty hit.

The Darnell Nurse hit from Game 2 became a huge point of debate among the fans regarding the lack of punishment for the Edmonton Oilers defenseman. While Hintz did come at Nurse with a light hit from the back, Nurse turned and slashed his foot with the stick.

While there’s a bunch of padding on the shins, the stick hit Hintz square on the leg, where there’s no padding. “Getting some help. Not putting any weight on that right foot as he comes off the ice,” the announcer said. The Stars’ player needed help getting off the ice as his team trailed 3-0 in the third period. So yeah, fans weren’t in the mood to spare, well, anybody.

The fans didn’t just call out the Edmonton Oilers

To say the fans were upset with Evan Bouchard’s slash on Hintz would be an understatement. They didn’t just call out Evan Bouchard to the Oilers, some didn’t even spare the Stars. How did that happen? You can thank the frustration of seeing none of the Stars stand up for Hintz despite the cheeky slash on their teammate’s foot.

“Is anyone on this team gonna stick up for each other & send a message..?!” one fan questioned. However, the Finnish player himself didn’t seem interested in responding to Bouchard. While he did stumble, the Stars players didn’t pick a fight with the Edmonton Oilers defenseman either. Then again, what the fans wanted was to see the Stars respond in kind. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Matthew Tkachuk got back at the Canes’ Sebastian Aho for injuring Sam Reinhart. The offence earned him a misconduct, but the Panthers star didn’t seem to mind. “It’s just sticking up for teammates,” said Tkachuk. Perhaps, fan were expecting a similar response from the Dallas Stars as well.

“Oilers are picking on the Stars, and nobody is stepping up or manning up!” complained another fan. Although that wasn’t completely true. The Dallas Stars didn’t start a brawl for Evan Bouchard taking another hit on Hintz’s already injured leg. Instead, they snuck in their own hits, many of which also flew under the radar of the on-ice officials. Gino Hard posted a clip of one.

“Mikael Granlund nailed Corey Perry nowhere near the puck, no call on the play,” wrote the page while posting a clip of the Finnish forward hitting Perry in the back. Meanwhile, some fans echoed what coach Peter Boer said about the Edmonton Oilers after Game 2. “If they did that to McDavid, that would be a penalty and probably a suspension, just saying lol,” commented a fan.

While these statements imply that the league may harbor some bias toward one of its biggest stars, the NHL has already punished McDavid. McDavid’s high cross-check on Vancouver Canucks’ Connor Garland back in the reular season didn’t go unpunished. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety issued the superstar a three-game suspension for his intentional hit on Garland. But it’s safe to say past actions don’t have the Dallas Stars fans convinced.

Finally, there was the minority that didn’t think too much about the hit. Just like Hintz and the rest of the stars brushed off the slash, they too cracked jokes about it. “I hope he plays really crappy golf this summer…” joked one fan, cursing Bouchard’s prospects on the golf course.

Jokes apart, the Oilers finished the game with yet another dominant performance, scoring four times in Game 4. While the Stars did neutralize the Oilers’ 1-0 lead early on, last year’s runners-up rallied back to score three more times, bagging a 3-1 series lead over their opponents.