Leo Komarov has been suspended three games for his hit on New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh on Thursday night.
The Leafs’ leading goals and points scorer will miss games against the Flyers, Predators and Hurricanes and forfeit $47,580 in salary.
Toronto’s Leo Komarov suspended three games for elbowing NY Rangers’ Ryan McDonagh. Video: https://t.co/WDUVIwP6PZ
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) February 19, 2016
another angle. he got a 5 min major for illegal head contact + game misconduct pic.twitter.com/Z2IGpfP3nk
— steph (@myregularface) February 19, 2016
There’s no question this was a dirty hit. The principal point of contact was the head/face as Komarov extended his elbow and shoulder seemingly in an attempt to target the head of a vulnerable player, thus the in-game match penalty for an attempt to injure. There was enough time for Komarov to process McDonagh’s positioning; while hitting a player who isn’t expecting it isn’t against the rules, the onus is on Komarov to hit into the body or avoid contact altogether. After a spell on the bench, McDonagh did not return to the game, which is another strike against Komarov in this case.
It is a warranted suspension, although the headline below (“finally”?) seems like unfair treatment of a player who’s never been in trouble with the league discipline office before and had done a pretty good job of playing his hard-nosed game within the rules over his prior 159 NHL games.
Leafs’ Komarov deserves to finally sit for dirty elbow https://t.co/z3xrHaKL4q From @mirtle pic.twitter.com/9yLTbjYg4J
— The Globe and Mail (@globeandmail) February 19, 2016
There were plenty of calls on Twitter for the maximum five game suspension (knowing it was a phone hearing, not an in-person meeting), but this egregious elbow to the head by a repeat offender in John Moore received just five games last season:
There is one vaguely similar incident that will be fresh on the minds of Leafs fans. Tyler Bozak was on the receiving end of a hit to the head in Ottawa two weeks ago and remains out of the lineup with a concussion. Here is that hit again:
In addition to Komarov having a clearer sightline in his approach on McDonagh than Zibanejad did on Bozak, the differentiating factor appears to be that Bozak showed an awareness of Zibanejad’s incoming contact and made a sudden move to cut behind him, partially creating the shoulder/elbow-to-head point of contact.
There’s no question, though, that Zibanejad got his arm and elbow up unnecessarily and concussed Bozak, taking him out of the lineup for an indeterminate number of games. Both Komarov and Zibanejad had no priors with the Department of Player Safety before their respective incidents. The question becomes, is there enough of a gulf between the two for one to be assessed a minor penalty under Rule 48 (Zibanejad’s) and the other (Komarov’s) to receive a match penalty and three-game suspension?
Komarov was also the recipient of a questionable blindside hit to the head area causing a concussion in November, 2014. Alex Ovechkin was not suspended or penalized on the play, and later described the collision as an accident.
It’s anticipated Shawn Matthias will return from injury on Saturday, which would mean no call-up is necessary. Brendan Leipsic could re-enter the lineup in lieu of Matthias’ return.
