Dallas Stars center Cody Eakin will be meeting with NHL Player Safety on Friday afternoon.
This comes after he took a run at New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on Thursday night in Dallas. Eakin was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct, while Lundqvist briefly left the game. Despite the fact that Lundqvist was out of the net, the NHL rules clearly state that “a goalkeeper is not ’fair game’ just because he is out of the goal crease area.”
It’s a similar incident to the infamous Milan Lucic–Ryan Miller incident from five years ago. Lucic, then with the Bruins, skated right through the Sabres netminder. Miller, who was out of the net to play the puck, was sent flying. Lucic got a two-minute penalty for charging but did not face any supplemental discipline for the hit.
Eakin has just one assist in 14 games this season, but is coming off three seasons of 35-40 points. He’s working on getting back into game form after injury, but it seems like that may be delayed by a suspension. Lundqvist, meanwhile, returned to the game and finished with 27 saves in a 2-0 win. While he won’t get credit for a shutout because he didn’t play the whole game, it’s still a great return for The King, who had been temporarily displaced by the hot hand of Antti Raanta. Raanta started four straight, with just three goals allowed and two shutouts in the 3-1-0 stretch.
Eakin isn’t the only one who will be meeting with Patrick Burke and Player Safety, as Senators winger Mike Hoffman will also have a disciplinary hearing for cross-checking San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture in the head on Wednesday night.