Rugged Pittsburgh Penguins blueliner Roberto Bortuzzo received a match penalty for his hit on Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano during Saturday’s eventual 2-1 Pens win.
Here’s a somewhat decent video of the hit:
Bortuzzo, 24, hasn’t been suspended during his NHL career, but he just played in his 50th game (spread out through three seasons) tonight.
It will probably help his cause that Giordano, 30, was able to return to the game. That doesn’t mean that an injury is out of the question anyway, however. If he’s OK, Team Canada may also breathe a sigh of relief, as he could serve as a steady Plan B (or C) if one of their selected defensemen get injured.
Flames head coach Bob Hartley passed on griping about the hit to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Josh Yohe.
“It happened so quick,” Hartley said. “The league is looking at everything. I have much more important things to watch right now.”