Minnesota’s Nino Niederreiter isn’t scheduled to face a disciplinary hearing for his hit on Dallas’ Patrick Sharp on Thursday night, an NHL spokesman confirmed.
Niederreiter was given a five-minute interference and game misconduct in the late stages of the Wild’s 3-1 win.
The hit sent Sharp cartwheeling to the ice, though, upon replay, Niederreiter got his skates tangled with Radek Faksa prior to the collision. That appeared to send the Wild forward into Sharp’s path inadvertently.
Nino Niederreiter makes Patrick Sharp fly through the air. #NHLStars #MNWild pic.twitter.com/yaVRvrhjjp
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) February 17, 2017
As such, it’s not a big surprise the 24-year-old escaped supplementary discipline.
There was some concern about Sharp, who’s missed significant time with concussion issues this season and appeared to be shaken up on the play. Thankfully for him and the Stars, he appeared no worse for wear.
That said, Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff didn’t like the hit. At all.
“I just saw a pretty dirty hit on Sharp, that’s all I saw,” Ruff said following the game. “Cutting a guy’s knees out, that’s pretty tough.”