The Montreal Canadiens will be without depth forward Michael Pezzetta for a while after he was given a two-game suspension by the Department of Player Safety for his hit on Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie this weekend. As the accompanying video explains:
On this play, both elements of the illegal check to the head rule are satisfied. First, Oshie’s head is the main point of contact on this hit. Pezzetta hits forcefully through Oshie’s head with his right shoulder, making no meaningful contact with any other part of Oshie’s body. Second, the head contact on this play is avoidable. While Oshie does make a play on the puck, he does not change the position of his head or body just prior to contact in a way which significantly contributes to the head being the main point of contact.
Notably, Oshie did not suffer a serious injury on the play, even scoring on the subsequent powerplay, when Pezzetta was given a two-minute minor on the play. The Canadiens forward also does not have a history of supplementary discipline, though his NHL career to this point spans just 47 games.
That 47-game sample does include a huge amount of physicality though, as Pezzetta has racked up 143 hits and 74 penalty minutes during his rookie season. That bang-and-crash style will undoubtedly lead to some situations like this in the future, but he will now face increasing penalties for any further suspension-worthy incidents. He’ll also miss games against the Minnesota Wild and Philadelphia Flyers this week.