The National Hockey League Department of Player Safety has announced a one game suspension for Pittsburgh Penguins defensemen Kris Letang. The suspension is for the hit Letang made on Capitals’ forward Marcus Johansson in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win in Game 3 on Monday night.
Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang suspended 1 game for interference on Washington’s Marcus Johansson. Video: https://t.co/lSVEm2DQ0T
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 3, 2016
The hit took place during the first period of Game 3. The call on the ice was a two-minute penalty for interference. According to NBCSN’s broadcast, Letang’s hit was delivered 0.63 seconds after Johansson released his pass, which puts it in the late category by NHL standards. Anything over .50 seconds is considered late.
Letang gets only 2 mins for interference for this hit on Johnasson pic.twitter.com/gK8wppEsU0
— Stephanie (@myregularface) May 3, 2016
“I saw him coming full speed, and I tried to step up in the middle. But things happen fast. I can’t tell you right now. It was just a step up to hit him. Not intentional.” Letang was quoted saying after the game.
In the explanation of the suspension, it is mentioned that Johansson was not eligible to be checked. The significant contact to the head was also a major factor in Letang’s suspension. It is also brought up that this was not a case of charging because Letang’s skates stay on the ice during contact. It was also not an illegal check to the head because it was not the main point of contact.
Johansson came back in the second period and finished the game, skating a little over 18 minutes, taking six shots and delivering nine hits. It was announced today that he did not take place in practice due to an upper-body injury that could be relevant to said hit.
The Penguins will have to play the fourth game of this series, scheduled for tomorrow evening, without their top defenseman. The Penguins will likely also be without Olli Maata who suffered an upper-body injury after being hit by Brooks Orpik in game two of the series.
