Nazem Kadri is relieved the NHL’s Department of Player Safety saw his hit on Daniel Sedin the same way he did.
“For me, I thought I hit him in the body and that was the main point of contact,” Kadri said today, per the Toronto Sun. “I’m happy the league felt the same way. I don’t know if there’s anything you can do differently. It happens pretty fast. It’s a very reacting type of play. I just tried to go low with it.”
The video clearly shows that Kadri caught Sedin’s head with his shoulder, knocking Sedin’s helmet off in the process. However, the league ultimately ruled that Sedin’s head was not the “main point of contact,” i.e. that Kadri hit through Sedin’s body before incidental contact was made with the head.
The Maple Leafs beat the Canucks, 6-3, on Saturday, dealing Vancouver its eighth straight loss. Kadri scored one of Toronto’s goals. He was also given a five-minute major and game misconduct for charging Sedin, plus five minutes for fighting Jannik Hansen.