Penguins fan ejected in wild scene after ‘stealing puck from child and being threatened by the boy’s mother’

The Pittsburgh Penguins fans found something to cheer about in Monday’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning: The ejection of an elderly fan.

That man, who has not been identified publicly, stands accused of stealing a puck from a young spectator seated behind the glass at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.

What’s more, he nearly came to blows with the younger fan’s mother, who pulled her arm back to throw a punch before stopping herself short of the man’s chin.

Regardless, the grey-haired fan wearing a replica Lowell MacDonald jersey was still met with a round of applause as he made his unceremonious exit during the second period on Monday.

The incident unfolded with the game tied at 1-1 when a puck was caught in the netting hanging over one end of the ice.

‘It turns out that a puck went up into the netting and a young boy about 3 or 4 rows back went and shook the glass. And as it fell to the ground, an older gentleman reached down and grabbed the puck,’ Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin told the local CBS affiliate.

The Pittsburgh Penguins fans found something to cheer about in Monday’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning: The ejection of an elderly fan (right) 

The boy’s mother wound up to hit the man at one point, but stopped herself short in the end 

It was that man who became focus of other Penguins fans, many of whom began to direct boos in his direction.

Severa; others began recording the fallout from the incident on their phones – footage that soon went viral.

But according to Acklin, the man’s motives weren’t quite as questionable as they may have seemed.

‘They started booing this older gentleman fan who by his own right gave the puck to his granddaughter who was about a teenage granddaughter,’ Acklin said.

Ultimately a yet-to-be identified player’s wife or girlfriend was escorted to the section by staff and hand-delivered another puck to the young fan. What’s more, she delivered a hug to the mother as well.

But the incident wasn’t yet over. The grey-haired man in the MacDonald replica jersey chose this moment to resurface, resulting in jaw-to-jaw arguments with the other fan’s mother and an additional spectator seated nearby.

‘It was a great moment, they hugged,’ Acklin said. ‘And as the wife or girlfriend was leaving, the grandfather got up and started getting into it with the fans around them.

‘At that point, it sort of got out of hand and there were some hand gestures, and the older gentleman was escorted out of the building,’ Acklin continued. ‘It’s unfortunate, a lot of passion. I think the worst thing about it was during that whole iteration, Tampa scored on us, right in front of it and it was a little bit of an uproar.’

In the end, the man made his way to the exit while chasing down a Penguins staffer who was already retreated from the area.

‘I just want to caution everybody that there’s always two sides to the story, and I credit our staff, we reached out to both families who both felt that they were in the right,’ Acklin said.