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Marcus Johansson left the game at 15:41 of the first period as a result of a hit by Kris Letang. The hit was late and to the upper body/head area of Johansson.
It will be interesting to see how the NHL’s Department of Player Safety handles this hit, in comparison to the handling of a somewhat similar hit made by Brooks Orpik in game 2. Orpik’s hit ultimately resulted in a three game suspension for Orpik.
The NHL defines a “late hit” as 0.6 seconds after a puck has left a players area. This astute analysis raises an interesting point:
FWIW, Letang on MJ90 was 19 digital frames from release of puck to contact. 30 frames in 1 second. So .63 of a second.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 3, 2016
Anything over. 50 of a second gets a look but other factors come into play. In this case, issue is contact to head, potential launching.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 3, 2016
It should be noted that Johansson would return for the start of the second period.
He wasnt injured. Period. False statement.
True he wasn’t injured, but it was a late hit regardless. He left his feet and should be suspended. One game isn’t going to cut it. He’s gotten away with way too much in these playoffs already. Orpik is a class act who apologized to Maatta and did not attempt to justify his actions to the DOPS, Letang will probably plead his case.
“True, he wasn’t injured, but we will leave the inaccurate headline as is.”
Let’s, get it right guys! What’s fair is fair. It looked intentional to me but, I don’t make the decisions.