Martin Hanzal will meet with the NHL today to discuss his push from behind on Kings forward Dustin Brown. Now, it’ll be up to Brendan Shanahan to determine if Hanzal sits for Game 3 and possibly more.
Hanzal’s hit came in the third period of last night’s chippy Game 2 with the Kings already ahead 3-0. Jeff Carter would score his hat trick goal during the five-minute major. Hanzal was also given a game misconduct on the play. Brown, meanwhile, was seemingly uninjured on the play and returned immediately.
As we’ve seen with other plays in the past, injury has played a factor in determining the severity of punishment. Considering how reckless this hit was, injury or not, Hanzal appears to be a candidate to sit for one game.