[UPDATE: Blais has been suspended two games.]
Sammy Blais will chat with the NHL Department of Player Safety following an illegal check to the head of Devon Toews Wednesday night.
During St. Louis’ 4-1 win, the Blues forward caught the Avalanche defenseman up high early in the first period. Toews was down briefly before slowly making his way to the Colorado bench to get checked out.
Blais was given a two-minute minor for elbowing and Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring on the ensuing power play. Toews would return later in the period.
While it seems likely the Blues will lose Blais for Friday night’s rematch, Mike Hoffman is expected to make his debut Friday. The forward did not play Wednesday night because his work visa had yet to be approved.
Hoffman signed a one-year, $4M deal after joining the team in training camp on a PTO.
————
Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.