Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog will be having a call with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety after an illegal check to the head of Boston’s Brad Marchand, which saw Landeskog ejected from the game on Thursday.
Landeskog cut across the ice and delivered a pretty bad blow to the head of Marchand as he fired off a shot. The hit left Marchand momentarily dazed. But Marchand got up afterward and had enough time to land a punch on Landeskog’s face before Landeskog was escorted from the building with a match a penalty.
As per league rules, any match penalty carries an indefinite suspension until the league reviews the play. It didn’t take them long to schedule the hearing.
Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog will have a hearing today for an illegal check to the head of Boston's Brad Marchand.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 13, 2015
With Marchand having already missed time with a concussion earlier this year, it’s surprising that the team left him in the game and didn’t exercise more caution.
Watch a few angles on the hit below. There’s also the retaliation below, for which Marchand was assessed a minor penalty for roughing.
Terrible Landeskog hit on Marchand pic.twitter.com/0fniXhoQT2
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 13, 2015
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/664976185860976641
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/664976372251672579
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/664976629643517952
If a suspension of any length comes through for the team’s captain, it could be bad news for Colorado. They desperately need to make up points in the standings before the playoffs get out of reach. They sit in the basement of the Central Division with just 13 points in the standings. That’s four points back from the sixth place Chicago Blackhawks and five points back from the last wild card spot, currently held by the Winnipeg Jets.