Perhaps Brendan Shanahan will have some more work to do tonight. In Quebec City as the Canadiens and Lightning were doing battle, Tampa Bay’s Ryan Malone caught Montreal’s Chris Campoli wheeling around the net with his head down, checking him in the head and putting him on the ice. Montreal’s Josh Gorges took up for Campoli dropping the gloves with Malone in a fight that Malone left Gorges a bit bloodied. You can see video of the hit here.
Shanahan has been more than doing his part to get things cleaned up around the league regarding head shots, cheap shots, and hits from behind, but he’s got a conundrum on his hands here. This hit provides for a bit more debate as Campoli appears to dip his shoulder at the last second turning what could’ve been a shoulder-to-shoulder hit into a shoulder-to-head hit.
Players do have to have more control of their body and how they dish out hits, but at this kind of speed and these sorts of reactions from players, can Malone be punished for a last second move by his opponent? On the flip side of that, Shanahan could rule that Campoli came around with his head at the same level no matter what and Malone could’ve done something to hit him differently.
One way or another, Shanahan will have something new to deliberate on. Tampa Bay won’t play another game until Friday night, opening night for the Lightning, so he’ll have time to get things sorted out. This time, Shanahan might have his toughest call to make in deciding how players handle themselves (or don’t) on the ice.