This is not something you see often. Avalanche fans were pounding on the glass behind the Kings bench Tuesday night in Denver, and the panel exploded.
Shards everywhere. Players ducking. Coaches stepping back. The playoffs have officially arrived in Colorado.
The clip spread across social media within minutes. A packed building, a rowdy section, and a pane of tempered glass that decided it had taken enough abuse for one night.
Nobody on the Kings bench looked hurt. But this was a near miss. Glass doesn't care who it cuts, and D.J. Smith's staff was standing right there.
Jared Bednar's building has been one of the loudest in the league all year.
The Avalanche went 26-9-6 at home during the regular season, and the energy in this series has been turned all the way up.
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Colorado's home-ice edge just got a little too real
Colorado entered these playoffs as the top team in the NHL at 121 points, and the fans know it.
They smell a long run, and the noise behind the visitors' bench has been a problem for opponents all season.
But pounding glass hard enough to shatter it crosses a line. That's no longer atmosphere. That's a hazard.
Arena staff cleaned up quickly.
The game kept moving. Still, someone from the league office is going to want a conversation about panel integrity and crowd-control protocols.
Is this the kind of moment that changes nothing, or the kind that forces a rule tweak? Probably neither, honestly.
The NHL has seen glass blow out before, though rarely from fans alone.
The Kings came in trailing 1-0 in the series after dropping the opener 2-1 on Sunday.
They've lost all three regular-season meetings with Colorado, too, so the margin for error was already paper-thin.
After a 20-minute delay, play finally resumed in the second period, allowing the game to continue after an unexpected interruption.
And the Avalanche? They've got a crowd that literally will not let up. Even the glass is tapping out.
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Should the NHL fine fans who bang so hard on the glass that it shatters during a game?
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