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Bellemare suspended one game for ‘dangerous’ check from behind on Orlov

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Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones discuss the fallout from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare being suspended one game for a "dangerous' check from behind on Washington Capitals defenseman Dimitry Orlov.

Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has been suspended one game for his hit on Caps d-man Dmitry Orlov on Monday night, the NHL has announced.

Classifying it as a “dangerous” check from behind, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety said the onus was on Bellmare to avoid making contact with a player in a prone position. Bellemare was initially assessed a major penalty for checking from behind, and a game misconduct.

“Tracking Orlov for some time, Bellemare has ample time to adjust his angle of approach, minimize the force of the hit or avoid this hit completely,” the DoPS explained. “And while we acknowledge that this hit is made more violent by Orlov losing an edge immediately before contact, the onus here is on Bellemare to not take advantage of a player in a vulnerable position.”

Bellemare will now miss Wednesday’s Game 4 at Wells Fargo, a potential close-out game for the Capitals, who lead the opening-round series 3-0.