Written by Pierre LeBrun at ESPN.com
The hits keep on coming in a series loaded with skill but dominating the headlines for the wrong reasons.
A game after Brooks Orpik leveled Olli Maatta with a high, late hit that garnered the Washington Capitals defenseman a three-game suspension, star bluelinerKris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins is now facing potential supplemental discipline for his high hit on Marcus Johansson in Game 3 on Monday night.
The series began with Tom Wilson’s questionable leg-on-leg hit on Conor Sheary in Game 1, which netted him a fine.
There has been a constant undercurrent of hate between the two rivals. We all love tough, emotional, physical hockey — as long as it doesn’t cross the line.
This series needs to be reined in.
The question now is whether this series turns on Letang’s hit or not. His absence would be a huge blow to a thin Penguins blue line.
All we know at this point is that the NHL’s player safety department is looking at the play. Where it goes from there, we’ll know on Tuesday.
“I didn’t see him coming, he came from the blind side,” Johansson said after his team’s 3-2 loss in Game 3, which gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 series lead. “I just looked at it; he obviously leaves his feet, and hits me in the head. It’s the kind of play you want out of the league. Doesn’t look good.”
Given Orpik’s suspension, Johansson was then asked, did he expect the same thing to happen to Letang?
“Yeah, I’d say so,” said the Capitals forward.
It’s not that simple, of course. For starters, Letang’s hit wasn’t nearly as late as Orpik’s. However, no question it was a high hit.
The other important factor is that while Maatta was injured and missed Game 3, his return to the series unknown, Johansson returned to the game on Monday night. The player safety group takes that into consideration.
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