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Orlov, Skinner escape further punishment

Orlov

CSNWashington.com is reporting that Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov will not face supplemental discipline for shoving linesman Jean Morin during last night’s game against the Hurricanes.

Also escaping punishment was Carolina forward Jeff Skinner, who the Caps accused of slew-footing.

“Skinner’s infraction was more of a trip than a slew-foot (at least as Hockey Ops/Player Safety traditionally has defined it).,” an NHL spokesperson told CSNWashington.com in an email. “The difference comes when there’s an upper-body action (a yanking back with the arm or shoulder) to create a violent crash to the ice rather than just a trip.

“As for Orlov, the rule of thumb that has been used is that when on-ice officials assess a Game Misconduct for Abuse of Officials, Hockey Ops/ Player Safety follows their lead and imposes Supplementary Discipline. When the on-ice officials don’t (Orlov got a 10-minute misconduct), SD (supplementary discipline) rarely follows.”

If you’re wondering, here’s how the NHL defines slew-footing:

52.1 Slew-footing - Slew-footing is the act of a player or goalkeeper using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.

Seems to me the “or” after “under him” means an upper-body action isn’t necessary to call slew-footing. Granted, an upper-body action would make the play more dangerous, so maybe that’s why no supplementary discipline was given.

Orlov, meanwhile, can consider himself lucky he only got a 10-minute misconduct for that shove. It’s not like the linesman was hurt or anything, but come on man, you can’t be pushing the refs.