The call on the ice was 2 minutes for roughing. Letang left the game. He had played in 17 games before this one after returning from a concussion injury earlier..
Really? Roughing? This was an illegal check to the head. But in no way was that roughing as defined by Rule 51.1:
"Roughing is a punching motion with the hand or fist, with or without the glove on the hand, normally directed at the head or face of an opponent..."
Yeah, that's not roughing. He clearly used his arm to make contact with the head. The question is, was it incidental contact? A good hit? Did Letang make a sudden movement? Should this be a suspension? Is this a case of elbowing or illegal check to the head?
Let's see.
Elbowing. Rule 45:
"Elbowing shall mean the use of an extended elbow in a manner that may or may not cause injury."
Eh, okay. I'm not seeing that as an extended elbow, so let's drop that from consideration. But what about the new Rule 48 - Illegal Check to the Head:
"A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered."
Okay. The head was the principal point of contact. (That is a correct use of that word by the way. I always thought that princiPAL was for school administrators only. I was wrong.) Anyway, the head got the majority of the hit. But did Letang put himself in a vulnerable position AND was the head targeted.
Me thinks this could be a suspension, but not terribly likely. Oh, and the call was wrong on the ice.
Dallas plays Friday in Edmonton, so expect to hear something very soon from Shanahan if he decides to make a ruling.
The concussion earlier earned Max Pacioretty of the Canadiens a 3-game suspension.
At the time, NHL VP of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan said that Letang made "the decision to sacrifice his body, and must accept the possibility of taking a hit to make the play." But he also said: "What no player should expect is that his head will be picked and made the principal point of contact on such a hit."
The two plays are very similar. I don't think Letang's head changed significantly prior to or with the puck either time. But, what's really different is that the players were both skating to the puck at different speeds.
I think that this will not be a suspension because Nystrom appeared to minimize contact. He didn't extend the elbow. He didn't appear to shift his weight. Letang's shoulder did drop a little bit as he brought his stick back to his body after chipping the puck along the boards. Nystrom actually looks like he is prepared to make contact more with the boards than check an opponent.
We'll just have to wait and see.
