Late in the day yesterday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Tampa Bay Lightning defender Erik Cernak would be suspended two games for his hit on Rasmus Dahlin during Monday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Cernak wasn’t penalized during the game but the hit was obviously bad as his elbow made contact with Dahlin’s head.
I’m not going to waste time arguing whether the hit was intentional or not. No matter what Cernak was attempting to do, he connected with a clean elbow to Dahlin’s head.